Tariffic, which analyses cellphone bills notes in its second "Perfect Package Tracker" for the year that contract price increases implemented by both MTN and Vodacom were felt by consumers, but this is truer of MTN's price hikes.
Over the past few months, MTN and Vodacom hiked contract rates by an average of between 3% and 5% and this is reflected when comparing how much more all users would end up paying for their contracts on those two networks using a standardised base from which to compare. The company explains it uses its proprietary tariff optimisation software to look at the perfect packages for four distinct users each quarter, and then sheds some light on the results.
"MTN price increases are the most impactful," Tariffic says. This, it says, is because MTN also increased the prices of some their data bundles, while Vodacom did not. As a result, the overall effect of MTN's rate hikes seem to generally be more impactful to users than Vodacom's. However, MTN's My MTNChoice packages provide flexibility to savvy consumers, it notes.
"It is also interesting to observe that because of the flexibility of MTN's My MTNChoice packages, the price changes often result in consumers having to re-align their entire package (including the base tariff and certain bundles) in order to ensure they're on the optimal package."
Tariffic also found Cell C offers less value on its Straight Up deals. "It's also worth noting that previously the Straight Up packages were Cell C's simplest and best, but with the price increase and halving of data, now the ChatMore is often offering the best value to consumers."
Tariffic, founded in 2011, notes the local cellular market is incredibly complex and, between Vodacom, Cell C, MTN and Telkom, there are more than 10 000 different combinations of cell phone contracts and add-on bundles. "It's almost impossible for ordinary South African cell phone users to choose the contracts and bundles that actually suit their needs... or their pockets."
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