Small guys beat Vodacom and MTN with cheap data prices

Many mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in South Africa significantly undercut the country’s main cellular networks in prepaid mobile data pricing.

According to BMI-T’s 2024 MVNO Report, the number of people using these smaller networks doubled from around 2.5 million to 5 million between 2022 and 2024.

The report anticipated that this number will double again to 10 million by 2029.

A part of the surge in recent years can be attributed to the launch of MTN’s fully-fledged MVNO platform in 2020.

Since then, several new MVNOs roaming on MTN’s network have entered the market.

Some existing players also added MTN as a network partner or switched completely from Cell C, which had been the only network to offer an MVNO platform up until that point.

MTN’s presence enhances pricing competition and provides MVNOs with greater coverage than what Cell C could offer.

Telkom recently also launched an MVNO platform, which could open up the market to even more players.

MVNOs are effectively doing for the mobile market what Internet service providers (ISPs) have done for the fixed broadband market since the breaking of Telkom’s monopoly in 2013.

MVNOs don’t have to trouble themselves with network maintenance, which means they have significantly reduced operating costs.

They can also spend much less on staff and office space, focusing budgets on marketing and branding to differentiate themselves from rivals.

Some can also be less profit-driven than mobile-first companies as they are often part of larger businesses with other products and services — like banks and grocery stores.

MyBroadband compared the prices of prepaid mobile data valid for at least a month from several major MVNOs with Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, Cell C, and Rian’s prices.

Apart from two operators — Hello Mobile and MrP Mobile — the MVNOs offered significantly cheaper prices than the big networks.

In some cases, the MVNOs were well over 50% cheaper than the network on which they roamed.

The table below compares the prices of prepaid mobile data on MVNOs and major cellular networks in South Africa. Unless indicated otherwise, the validity periods are one month or 30 days.

The cheapest prices for each bundle size are shown in blue, while the most expensive are red.

Issues with international roaming

One downside of MVNOs to be aware of is that they generally do not support international roaming services.

International roaming rates on major networks tend to be very expensive, so getting a separate SIM or eSIM for the country or region you are visiting is generally a better option.

However, there is a major risk of not having SMS roaming on your main number while abroad.

In recent years, MyBroadband has received several reports from people who had their numbers hijacked through fraudulent SIM swaps while they could not receive SMSs, including when overseas.

Due to a ruling by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) intended to make porting between networks easier, SIM swaps in South Africa must use an opt-out process.

That means unless you respond to an SMS notifying you of an attempted SIM swap, the process will proceed.

Therefore, those who want to benefit from the lower prices of an MVNO and regularly travel internationally may want to consider using that provider’s SIM as a secondary one rather than their primary number.