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MTN reworks OOB data rates

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 03 Mar 2015
MTN has standardised its out-of-bundle prepaid data rates to 99c per MB.
MTN has standardised its out-of-bundle prepaid data rates to 99c per MB.

MTN has adjusted its out-of-bundle (OOB) rates for prepaid data in what it says is a bid to encourage customers to buy data bundles.

The revised OOB rate for prepaid data is now 99c, which includes the data base price for the per second price plan, says MTN. "The PayAsYouGo PayPerSecond price plan OOB rate was 79c and the new rate is 99c." Previously, other OOB rates varied, ranging between 29c and R1 per MB used after the depletion of a bundle.

Chief marketing officer of MTN SA, Larry Annetts, says MTN hopes the move will shield customers from bill shock. He notes in-bundle rates start from 6c per MB.

Last month, a report by Research ICT Africa (RIA) indicated SA remains expensive for mobile prepaid broadband, relative to other African countries - although its 3G network coverage and average download and upload speeds were high.

"While data prices are on a steep decline in most African countries covered by RIA, they have been constant in SA at R149 in 2014. The dynamic bundling observable in other countries such as Namibia has not yet been offered by South African operators," said the researchers.

However, they noted, while Vodacom and MTN were not cheap, they were among the top 10 on the continent in terms of value for money.

MTN's standardisation of its OOB rate for prepaid data to 99c follows a similar move by third operator Cell C last year.

Cell C, which used to offer a flat-rated data rate of 15c per MB, cancelled this in April and opted for a 99c OOB rate - a hike of 560% on the previous lower rate. In-bundle rates range from 5c to 24c per MB.

At the time, Cell C, like MTN, said the move was to encourage take-up of data bundles. Cell C said the 99c rate was still competitive when compared to other industry players. "Cell C adjusted this rate to ensure it could provide customers with a discounted rate when they purchase the higher-end bundles."

Bundle Size

Old Out of Bundle Data Rate (VAT Inclusive)

New Out of Bundle Data Rate (VAT Inclusive)

5MB

Default to Base Priceplan

R 0.99

20MB

R 1.00

R 0.99

50MB

Default to Base Priceplan

R 0.99

100MB

R 0.65

R 0.99

300MB

R 0.50

R 0.99

500MB

R 0.38

R 0.99

1GB

R 0.29

R 0.99

MTN's new 99c OOB rate, compared with previous OOB rates:

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