Telkom has recently been referred to by many as the best and cheapest data provider in South Africa. This is the cheapest data price that South Africa has had and it’s called Free Me 20GB Big Deal.

Telkom’s April 2019 big deal includes the following:

Price: R499p/m

  • 20GB Anytime Data
  • 1500 Anytime Minutes to all networks
  • 2GB WhatsApp Anytime data
  • 10GB Music Streaming data for Apple Music & Simfy
  • 3000 Telkom Minutes (Telkom to Telkom phone calls)
  • 50GB Streaming on Netflix, Youtube and or Showmax

With this Telkom deal you can choose a SIM-only deal which is R499p/m or you can add a device at an additional fee.

How Does The Newest Contender “Rain” compare?

Rains concept stands on the basis that you only pay for the data that you use. Everyone has been wondering if Rain will be the next up and coming mobile network provider but the truth is that they can’t really play in the same space as they ONLY offer data deals. What does this mean? It means that you can only use the SIM cards to go on the internet. You will not be able to make or receive calls on the sim and the same for SMSes.

We all say, “I mostly only use data anyway, I mean who makes phone calls these days”, but I know I wouldn’t like to be stuck with a phone where I can’t call someone if I needed to. So in our books, you can’t compare Rain to the other networks… yet anyway. Here are their current prices:

Rain Sim card with unlimited internet access for 15 days at R120.

Devices Included.

  • Huawei E5885 package with 45 days of unlimited data at a total cost of R1,540. (Once off payment)
  • Huawei E5573 that comes with 30 days of unlimited data and costs R840. (Once off payment)
  • Huawei P20 Lite that consists of 90 days of unlimited data at an R4,600 price. (Once off payment)
  • Huawei Y7 which a 60 days package of unlimited data for a price of R3,000. (Once off payment)

Comparing All Providers’ Prices: MTN vs Vodacom vs Telkom vs Cell C

We compare packages that are similar to that of Telkom’s big data deal. The mobile packages compared are sim-only, contain anytime data and all-network minutes.comparing mobile data deals and networks

As you can clearly see Telkom’s FreeMe data deal comes in way cheaper than any other networks The thing that I love about this package with Telkom is that it’s month-to-month, which means you don’t sit with that cancellation fear that so many of us have. You can cancel any time and you will only be charged for that month. The one thing we worry about with Telkom is connectivity… How many towers do they have and how fast is the connection because in this fast-paced day and age who has an extra 3 seconds to wait for something to load.

Telkom’s Connectivity Compared to All Other Networks

We have looked at MyBroadband’s comparison using download speed, upload speed, and latency. A score out of 10 was calculated using these metrics.

*Latency: Latency is a combination of time required to send information/signal across a distance and the processing time required at each end. “High” latency refers to a longer delay; “low” latency refers to a shorter delay.

*Upload Speed: the rate that data is transferred from the user’s computer/device to the internet.

*Download Speed: the rate at which data is transferred from the internet to the user’s device (computer, cellphone etc.).

comparing cell c, mtn, vodacom, rain, telkom in south africa

As you can see MTN has come out on top at a score of 10! Our beloved Telkom is lagging behind in second last place with a score of 6.88 out of 10. It is reported that Telkom pings off of Vodacom’s towers and network but then we don’t understand; why aren’t they on par with Vodacom coming in at 2nd place? Cell C just seems to be performing poorly at all fronts.

So now it’s up to you to choose what is more important. Saving money or time…

Data in South Africa is over-priced, that’s the sad truth. Maybe if we all jump to a network with lower data prices it will force other networks to finally make data affordable in this country. If we don’t force change it won’t happen. Just a thought.

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