{"id":54575,"date":"2012-07-10T22:51:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-10T20:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=54575"},"modified":"2012-07-10T22:52:49","modified_gmt":"2012-07-10T20:52:49","slug":"cell-c-straight-up-vs-vodacom-smart-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/54575-cell-c-straight-up-vs-vodacom-smart-plans.html","title":{"rendered":"Cell C Straight Up vs Vodacom Smart Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vodacom recently launched a new range of contracts that look awfully similar to Cell C\u2019s Straight Up packages which include voice minutes, data, and SMSes.<\/p>\n

With a simple structure and easy to understand out-of-bundle pricing, Cell C\u2019s deals live up to their name. Vodacom\u2019s Smart Plans, on the other hand, are convoluted.<\/p>\n

Not only are there off-peak, anytime, and Vodacom-only promotional and weekend minutes to keep track of, Vodacom\u2019s out-of bundle rates are also fairly complicated.<\/p>\n

This makes it difficult to form direct comparisons between these new combined plans from Vodacom and Cell C, as the elaborate tables below illustrate.<\/p>\n

Starting with packages with the most similarity, we compare Cell C Straight Up 400 and Vodacom Smart Advanced:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bundle details<\/td>\nCell C Straight Up 400<\/td>\nVodacom Smart Advanced<\/td>\nDifference<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Prices<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Without device<\/td>\nR400<\/td>\nR659<\/td>\nR259 cheaper: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S<\/td>\nR608<\/td>\nR850<\/td>\nR252 cheaper: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S2<\/td>\nR670<\/td>\nR899<\/td>\nR229 cheaper: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Nokia Lumia 800<\/td>\nR704<\/td>\nR899<\/td>\nR195 cheaper: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S3<\/td>\nR754<\/td>\nR939<\/td>\nR185 cheaper: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bundle details<\/td>\nCost to equalise<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anytime minutes<\/td>\n400<\/td>\n450<\/td>\nR49.50: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
On-net minutes<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n180*<\/td>\nR178.20: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
On-net Sat-Sun minutes<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n180<\/td>\nR178.20: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Data<\/td>\n400MB<\/td>\n400MB<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SMSes<\/td>\n400<\/td>\n400<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total cost to equalise<\/td>\nR405.90<\/td>\nR0<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total cost to equalise (w\/o on-net minutes)<\/td>\nR49.50<\/td>\nR0<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
* On-net minutes are promotional and only available if the Smart Plan is taken up before 6 September 2012. <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Although both of the contracts compared above include per-second billing, 400MB of data, and 400 SMSes, Vodacom offers more minutes.<\/p>\n

These additional minutes comprise 50 Anytime minutes, 180 promotional minutes for Vodacom-to-Vodacom (on-net) calls, and 180 \u201cmore weekend\u201d Vodacom-only minutes.<\/p>\n

Cell C\u2019s out-of-bundle voice rate is a flat 99c per minute and to make up all 410 extra minutes offered by Vodacom would cost R405.90.<\/p>\n

However, it can be argued that with the advent of number portability in South Africa you can\u2019t be sure if a number you are calling is on the Vodacom network or not. As such, it is difficult to manage on-net minutes.<\/p>\n

Combined with the fact that the 180 on-net anytime minutes are promotional, it is worthwhile to do a comparison where on-net minutes are disregarded as well.<\/p>\n

In this case, a Cell C subscriber would have to pay R49.50 to make up the 50 additional anytime, any network minutes offered by Vodacom. Under this condition Cell C\u2019s Straight Up 400 package comes away significantly cheaper than Vodacom\u2019s Smart Advanced contract.<\/p>\n

Comparing the other deals on offer by the two networks proved somewhat more complex, as indicated in the table below:<\/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\n\n\n
Bundle details<\/td>\nCell C Straight Up 200<\/td>\nVodacom Smart Standard<\/td>\nDifference<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Prices<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Without device<\/td>\nR200<\/td>\nR259<\/td>\nR59 cheaper: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S2<\/td>\nR470<\/td>\nR499<\/td>\nR29 cheaper: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Nokia Lumia 800<\/td>\nR504<\/td>\nR499<\/td>\nR5 cheaper: Vodacom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S3<\/td>\nR554<\/td>\nR529<\/td>\nR25 cheaper: Vodacom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bundle details<\/td>\nCost to equalise<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anytime minutes<\/td>\n200<\/td>\n130<\/td>\nR107.80: Vodacom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
On-net minutes<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n60*<\/td>\nR59.40: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
On-net Sat-Sun minutes<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n60<\/td>\nR59.40: Cell C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Data<\/td>\n200MB<\/td>\n300MB<\/td>\nR50: Cell C (upsize)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SMSes<\/td>\n200<\/td>\n300<\/td>\nR38: Cell C (upsize + OOB)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Equalised cost<\/td>\nCheapest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Without device<\/td>\nR406.80<\/td>\nR366.80<\/td>\nVodacom (R40)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S2<\/td>\nR676.80<\/td>\nR606.80<\/td>\nVodacom (R70)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Nokia Lumia 800<\/td>\nR710.80<\/td>\nR606.80<\/td>\nVodacom (R104)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S3<\/td>\nR760.80<\/td>\nR636.80<\/td>\nVodacom (R124)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Equalised cost without on-net minutes<\/td>\nCheapest<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Without device<\/td>\nR288<\/td>\nR366.80<\/td>\nCell C (R78.80)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S2<\/td>\nR558<\/td>\nR606.80<\/td>\nCell C (R48.80)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Nokia Lumia 800<\/td>\nR592<\/td>\nR606.80<\/td>\nCell C (R14.80)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Samsung Galaxy S3<\/td>\nR642<\/td>\nR636.80<\/td>\nVodacom (R5.20)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
* On-net minutes are promotional and only available if the Smart Plan is taken up before 6 September 2012. <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Vodacom Smart Standard offers less anytime, any network minutes than Cell C Straight Up 200, but includes 100MB more data and 100 extra SMSes.<\/p>\n

As in the previous comparison, the two deals are placed on an even footing by making up the differences. In this case, Cell C offers the ability to \u201cupsize\u201d the SMS and data portions of their contract.<\/p>\n

Two sets of equalised prices are shown for a direct comparison: one that includes Vodacom’s on-net minutes and one that excludes it.<\/p>\n

It was interesting to see that even when all Vodacom\u2019s on-net minutes are disregarded, it offers a slightly better deal on the Samsung Galaxy S3 than Cell C.<\/p>\n

Out-of-bundle rates<\/h3>\n

The last point of comparison are the out-of-bundle rates offered by the two networks on their combined voice, SMS, and data contracts.<\/p>\n

These are the charges subscribers should expect after they\u2019ve used up their monthly allotment:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Out-of-bundle rates<\/td>\nCell C<\/td>\nVodacom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peak on-net (per minute)<\/td>\nR0.99<\/td>\nR1.39<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Off-peak on-net\u00a0(per minute)<\/td>\nR0.99<\/td>\nR1.39<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peak to other network\u00a0(per minute)<\/td>\nR0.99<\/td>\nR1.54<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Off-peak to other network\u00a0(per minute)<\/td>\nR0.99<\/td>\nR1.54<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SMS – peak<\/td>\nR0.50<\/td>\nR0.80<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SMS – off-peak<\/td>\nR0.50<\/td>\nR0.35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Data (per MB)<\/td>\nR0.99<\/td>\nR1.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Related articles<\/h3>\n

Vodacom Smart Plans pricing and device details<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Cell C slashes contract prices<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

99c Cell C online contract builder launched<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Cell C slashes prepaid voice and data prices<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Vodacom cuts prepaid call rates<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is it possible to cut through the complexity and compare Cell C and Vodacom\u2019s new contract packages?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25973,"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_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[355,6513,35,465,13185,12773,41],"class_list":["post-54575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-cell-c","tag-contracts","tag-headline","tag-price-comparison","tag-smart-plans","tag-straight-up","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54575"}],"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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54601,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54575\/revisions\/54601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}