There was a time when if you wanted high speed internet that was as stable as it was fast, your only option was to have fixed-line internet installed in your home.
Thankfully however, we are no longer bound by terrestrial cables and we can opt to have internet wirelessly beamed to our homes. Even better, LTE services can bring internet to areas that currently don’t have fibre or have never even seen old-school copper cables used for ADSL.
Now before you rush off and sign up for an LTE internet connection, you should do your home work and shop around because high-speed wireless internet doesn’t come cheap.
To help, we’ve looked at all the deals available from three of South Africa’s major mobile network operators. For those that have been watching prices for a while you will notice that Cell C’s prices have recently been adjusted.
Cell C
Package | Anytime Data | Night Data | Total Data | Out of bundle rate | Included | Price |
SmartData 5GB | 5GB | 15GB | 20GB | R0.99 | Huawei E5573 (LTE MiFi) | R99 |
Smartdata 10GB | 10GB | 10GB | 20GB | R0.99 | ZTE MF283 Router | R299 |
Smartdata 20GB | 20GB | 20GB | 40GB | R0.99 | ZTE MF283 Router | R399 |
Smartdata 30GB | 30GB | 30GB | 60GB | R0.99 | ZTE MF283 Router | R499 |
Smartdata 50GB | 50GB | 50GB | 100GB | R0.99 | ZTE MF283 Router | R699 |
Smartdata 100GB | 100GB | 100GB | 200GB | R0.99 | ZTE MF283 Router | R999 |
Night Data is used from 12am to 6am.
Telkom
Package | Anytime Data | Night Surfer | Total data | Out of Bundle rate | Included | Price |
SmartBroadband Wireless 5GB | 5GB | 5GB | 10GB | R0.29 | Huawei B315 router | R229 |
SmartBroadband Wireless 10GB | 10GB | 10GB | 20GB | R0.29 | Huawei B315 router | R329 |
SmartBroadband Wireless 20GB | 20GB | 20GB | 40GB | R0.29 | Huawei B315 router | R429 |
SmartBroadband Wireless 30GB | 30GB | 30GB | 60GB | R0.29 | Huawei B315 router | R529 |
SmartBroadband Wireless 50GB | 50GB | 50GB | 100GB | R0.29 | Huawei B315 router | R729 |
SmartBroadband Wireless 100GB | 100GB | 100GB | 200GB | R0.29 | Huawei B315 router | R1 029 |
Night surfer is used from 12am to 7am.
Vodacom
Package | Anytime Data | Night Data | Included | Price |
500MB 24 Month Package | 500MB | 1GB | MF253 Router | R129 |
1GB 24 Month Package | 1GB | 2GB | MF253 Router | R149 |
2GB 24 Month Package | 2GB | 4GB | MF253 Router | R179 |
3GB 24 Month Package | 3GB | 6GB | MF253 Router | R239 |
5GB 24 Month Package | 5GB | 10GB | MF253 Router | R329 |
10GB 24 Month Package | 10GB | 20GB | MF253 Router | R569 |
20GB 24 Month Package | 20GB | 40GB | MF253 Router | R1069 |
Night Data is used from 12am to 5am.
So who is the cheapest? Well, as prices vary from package to package that really depends on your needs.
In terms of sheer value for money however, Cell C’s top tier package is priced better than all other packages, though it is by a close margin.
[Image – CC BY/2.0 Armando Alves]