{"id":522557,"date":"2024-01-24T09:52:35","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T07:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=522557"},"modified":"2024-01-24T10:01:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T08:01:18","slug":"ussd-shortcodes-used-by-south-africas-mobile-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/522557-ussd-shortcodes-used-by-south-africas-mobile-networks.html","title":{"rendered":"USSD shortcodes to know for South Africa’s mobile networks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mobile network customers who want to buy bundles, check their balances, or ensure they are not being charged for cell-based subscription services they don’t use can quickly do so by using shortcodes.<\/p>\n

Many people are now buying their airtime or bundles through dedicated network mobile apps or third-party apps like those offered by banks.<\/p>\n

This makes it less necessary to remember strings of USSD codes to recharge and query airtime and data. However, there are still some shortcodes that are useful to know in a pinch.<\/p>\n

The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) is a Global System for Mobile (GSM) protocol that has been around since 1997.<\/p>\n

It allows users to enter a combination of numbers, asterisks, and hashes in their regular dialling app to execute various actions on their mobile network account.<\/p>\n

Although GSM, which includes 2G and 3G technologies, is set to be shut down over the next few years, USSD can be supported on LTE and 5G.<\/p>\n

If you know the shortcodes your mobile operator uses for the various services, then USSD is often the fastest option for managing your cellular plan.<\/p>\n

It also does not require an Internet connection or consume mobile data. When you’ve run out of airtime or data, the right USSD code can be a lifesaver.<\/p>\n

Other shortcode functions\u00a0can include turning international roaming or WASP subscriptions on or off.<\/p>\n

The tables below summarise the most important USSD shortcodes currently in use by Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Cell C.<\/p>\n

MTN’s list of shortcodes is more detailed because the operator offers an exhaustive list on its website<\/strong><\/a>, while the other networks only provide shortcodes for the main service sections.<\/p>\n

\n

Vodacom<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
USSD Code<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
*100#<\/strong><\/td>\nAirtime balance summary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*135#<\/strong><\/td>\nMaster USSD menu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*120#<\/strong><\/td>\nCheck WASP subscriptions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*#06#<\/strong><\/td>\nView your device IMEI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*111*501#<\/strong><\/td>\nView your MSISDN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*01*Recharge voucher PIN#<\/strong><\/td>\nRecharge Prepaid Airtime<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*140#number#<\/strong><\/td>\nPlease Call Me<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*140*02*MSISDN#<\/strong><\/td>\nRequest airtime from another user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*135#<\/strong><\/td>\nSend airtime to another user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*135#<\/strong><\/td>\nChange Tariff<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*135*082#<\/strong><\/td>\nAirtime Advance<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

MTN<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
USSD Code<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
*136#<\/strong><\/td>\nAirtime balance summary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*0#<\/strong><\/td>\nMaster USSD Menu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*135*5#<\/strong><\/td>\nCheck WASP subscriptions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*#06#<\/strong><\/td>\nView your device IMEI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*123*888#<\/b><\/td>\nView your MSISDN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*121*number#<\/strong><\/td>\nPlease Call Me<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*1#<\/strong><\/td>\nDetailed balances<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*2#<\/strong><\/td>\nBuy data, voice, or SMS bundles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*3#<\/strong><\/td>\nBuy or send airtime to another user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*4#<\/strong><\/td>\nChange Tariff<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*5#<\/strong><\/td>\nCheck your account details<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*10#<\/strong><\/td>\nRecharge balance with bank card<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*135#<\/strong><\/td>\nInternational roaming and voicemail, SIM swap, RICA SIM card<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*141*voucher number*cellphone number to be charged<\/strong><\/td>\nRecharge another prepaid number using a voucher<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*127*number#<\/strong><\/td>\nRequest reverse-charged call<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*155#<\/strong><\/td>\nCheck digital subscriptions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*5*6622#<\/strong><\/td>\nOut-of-bundle barring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*136*5*7852#<\/strong><\/td>\nUsage limit management<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Cell C<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
USSD Code<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
*101#<\/strong><\/td>\nAirtime balance<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*147#<\/strong><\/td>\nMaster USSD menu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*133*1#<\/strong><\/td>\nCheck WASP subscriptions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*#06#<\/strong><\/td>\nView your device IMEI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*147*100#<\/strong><\/td>\nView your device MSISDN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*102*Recharge voucher PIN#<\/strong><\/td>\nRecharge Prepaid Airtime<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*111*recipient cellphone number#<\/strong><\/td>\nPlease Call Me<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*147*01*cellphone number of other user*amount#<\/strong><\/td>\nRequest airtime from another user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*147*333*cellphone number to be recharged#<\/strong><\/td>\nSend airtime to another user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*147*8#<\/strong><\/td>\nChange Tariff<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Telkom<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
USSD Code<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
*188#<\/strong><\/td>\nAirtime balance summary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*180#<\/strong><\/td>\nMaster USSD menu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
N\/A<\/strong><\/td>\nCheck WASP subscriptions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*#06#<\/strong><\/td>\nView your device IMEI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*1#<\/strong><\/td>\nView your device MSISDN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*188*Recharge voucher PIN#<\/strong><\/td>\nRecharge Prepaid Airtime<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*140*number#<\/strong><\/td>\nPlease Call Me<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*180#<\/strong><\/td>\nRequest airtime from another user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*180#<\/strong><\/td>\nSend airtime to another user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*180#<\/strong><\/td>\nChange Tariff<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you know the shortcodes your mobile operator uses for various services, then USSD is the fastest option for managing your cellular plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":522605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[355,35,42,43716,92069,109,24416,55301,41],"class_list":["post-522557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-cell-c","tag-headline","tag-mtn","tag-rain","tag-shortcodes","tag-telkom","tag-unstructured-supplementary-service-data-ussd","tag-ussd-codes","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522557"}],"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\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522557"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":522689,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522557\/revisions\/522689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}