MTN today said its general packet radio services (GPRS), which is running in a free trial phase, will see users pay up to R50 per megabyte when it activates billing in October.
"We are announcing commercial applications but will not begin billing for several months to allow a greater take-up of the services," says MD Sifiso Dabengwa.
The service is branded MTNdataLIVE and is available to all MTN subscribers with GPRS-capable handsets.
The pricing structure will see the price per megabyte ratchet down as more data is used, with heavy users paying a monthly fee of R260 but only R10 per megabyte if they use more than 100MB in a given month. Billing for the first megabyte will be in increments of 20kb.
Internet service providers typically charge less than R1 per megabyte for traffic carried over a fixed leased-line.
GPRS creates an always-on data connection, as opposed to current on-demand dial connections, that bridges current cellphone technology and the third generation technologies under development. It allows far greater amounts of data to be downloaded than would be traditionally achievable over a cellphone connection.
Applications for the technology include Internet browsing, downloading e-mails or accessing databases.
MTN says early applications are now also available over GPRS, such as messaging software developed with Ericsson and a gaming system delivered as a Motorola application.
Three GPRS products will be available to MTN subscribers from October. The standard package will carry no subscription fee and prices will range from R50 per megabyte to R25 per megabyte, depending on usage. A package for heavier users will see a monthly subscription of R50 with 2MB included and prices from R22 to R17 per megabyte thereafter. A third package is to carry a charge of R263 a month with 15 bundled megabytes and prices of R10 to R15 per megabyte.
MTN believes more than 20% of its potential GPRS market has made use of the services during the free trial window.
Both Vodacom and Cell C have said they expect to launch some form of GPRS before year-end, with an announcement from Vodacom expected soon.
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