{"id":298880,"date":"2019-03-18T07:55:05","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T05:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=298880"},"modified":"2019-03-18T13:13:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T11:13:48","slug":"uncapped-mobile-data-packages-vodacom-mtn-and-rain-respond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/298880-uncapped-mobile-data-packages-vodacom-mtn-and-rain-respond.html","title":{"rendered":"Uncapped mobile data packages – Vodacom, MTN, and Rain respond"},"content":{"rendered":"

South African fibre and DSL Internet users have become accustomed to uncapped access online.<\/p>\n

This brings with it many benefits, such as unlimited streaming, gaming, and downloads.<\/p>\n

Mobile data users do not have the same luxury however, and 1GB of prepaid 30-day data costs around R150 for Vodacom and MTN users.<\/p>\n

High mobile data usage therefore brings with it a hefty bill at the end of the month, where this simply isn’t the case with a fixed line.<\/p>\n

While ICASA’s recently-implemented out-of-bundle rules<\/strong><\/a> ensure that your data usage doesn’t automatically switch to OOB rates, this doesn’t change the fact that substantial data consumption will cost you an exorbitant amount of money.<\/p>\n

Rain’s uncapped off-peak bundle<\/h3>\n

Rain provides some reprieve with its unlimited data deal, where users can access uncapped off-peak mobile data for R250 per month.<\/p>\n

This uncapped data is available between 23:00 and 18:00 every day, leaving a five-hour period where users must pay if they wish to use data.<\/p>\n

To find out whether this type of offer will grow in the market, MyBroadband spoke to mobile networks about the possibility of offering completely uncapped mobile data packages.<\/p>\n

\n

Vodacom<\/h3>\n

A Vodacom spokesperson said it is possible that in the future uncapped mobile data bundles could come online.<\/p>\n

However, it is unlikely to happen any time soon.<\/p>\n

“The reality is that without access to requisite spectrum, it would simply strain the network resulting in an inferior experience for customers,” said Vodacom.<\/p>\n

“The release of available spectrum at reasonable market related prices will also be instrumental in reducing the cost of carrying a megabyte of data and ultimately in accelerating the decline in effective data prices in South Africa.”<\/p>\n

\"Vodacom<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

MTN<\/h3>\n

“Spectrum is a limited resource and the ability to offer unlimited data is therefore not possible,” said Jacqui O\u2019Sullivan, executive for corporate affairs at MTN SA.<\/p>\n

“However, MTN SA is continuously looking on how customer experience can be enhanced through the use of new technology and capabilities.”<\/p>\n

O’Sullivan added that it is theoretically possible that MTN could launch a product similar to Rain’s uncapped off-peak data package, but it is not planning such a package in the near future.<\/p>\n

“With limited spectrum available, options are limited – however, we are gearing up the network to enable new spectrum which we look forward to being made available in the future.”<\/p>\n

\"MTN<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Rain<\/h3>\n

Rain CMO Khaya Dlanga said that completely uncapped Rain mobile data packages are not out of the question.<\/p>\n

“We explore all possibilities that could give South Africans affordable access to the Internet and we continue to innovate to make that a reality,” said Dlanga.<\/p>\n

Dlanga added that Rain believes its current unlimited off-peak offering is sustainable.<\/p>\n

“We are solely focused on being a data network, and we have employed the latest technology to ensure our costs are as low as possible.”<\/p>\n

\"Rain<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Now read: 2019 Mobile Networks Conference registrations open<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MyBroadband spoke with South African mobile networks about the possibility of uncapped mobile data packages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341039,"featured_media":262639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[355,35,42,43716,109,30512,41],"class_list":["post-298880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-cell-c","tag-headline","tag-mtn","tag-rain","tag-telkom","tag-uncapped-data","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341039"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298880"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299624,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298880\/revisions\/299624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}