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MTN revised its roaming costs, but how do they compare?

If you are on MTN’s network and travel quite a bit around the world, you will find some joy in the fact that the mobile operator has revised it roaming rates for voice calls and data.

The updated rates are meant to replace the Roam Like Home offer and will now be know as MTN Hello World.

Roaming rates from any mobile operator are usually exorbitantly high, so how much can you expect to pay on the “revised” roaming rates? Have a look below:

  • Data rates are now R1.00 per MB
  • Make and receive calls from R1.25 per minute
  • On Etisalat in the UAE, voice calls are R2.50 per minute
  • On Etisalat in the UAE, SMS are now R2.50 per minute and data R1 per MB.

“The world is a global village and customers that are criss-crossing the world either for work or pleasure can take comfort in the fact that they can do so more cost effectively when they are roaming with either one of the extensive list of our carrier partners anywhere in the world. This is one of the ways that MTN is driving its mission of making its customer’s lives a whole lot brighter,” said Larry Annetts, chief consumer officer of MTN SA.

If you are on the network already and you do a lot of travelling, there’s nothing else that you need to do as these rates will apply without having to opt in.

But how does it compare to other mobile operators?

Vodacom has several roaming packages available, and the rate that you pay for data all depend which one you subscribe to.

  • Vodafone World – Neighbouring countries – R51.10 per MB
  • Vodafone World – Sub-Saharan Africa – R102.40 per MB
  • Vodafone World – Rest of the world – R128.00 per MB
  • Super-Saver networks – R17.50 per MB
  • Africa Roaming family – R5.00 per MB
  • Vodacom Travel Saver – R2.00 per MB

As a quick example by using Vodacom’s roaming calculator, if you travel to the US and roam on AT&T with the (cheapest) Travel Saver package, you can expect to pay:

  • R2.50 per minute for voice calls,
  • R2.00 per MB for data, and
  • R0.80 per SMS.
  • There is also a R30 a day fee just to have the service activated.

Cell C, on the other hand, works a little bit differently. According to its roaming website, it has flat rates regardless of whether you are on contract or not.

To use the same example as before (roaming on AT&T in the US), on Cell C you can expect to pay:

  • Local calls in the US – R 3.90
  • Receive a call – R 5.20
  • To make an international call – R 4.00
  • SMSs cost R 2.20
  • Data will be R 3.40 per MB

From a quick analysis and calculations comparing three of South Africa’s mobile networks, it does seem that MTN might just have the best rates available.

[Image – CC by 2.0/Bastiaan_65]

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