Vodacom data prices rival Telkom for high-end packages
September 3rd 2024
An analysis by MyBroadband shows that Vodacom’s mobile data prices rival Telkom’s for high-end packages and offer better coverage and speeds.
Telkom has positioned itself as offering affordable and value-oriented mobile products with a strong focus on data.
“Telkom Mobile has been transformational in driving down the cost of data in South Africa by providing value-rich broadband products and services,” the company said.
The company has shown strong growth on the back of the value it offers to customers and its personalised pricing platform, Mo’Nice.
Telkom’s mobile subscriber base grew by 14.6% to 21.2 million, and mobile revenue increased by 4.5% to R22.6 billion.
The operator said this growth was fuelled by its “continuous delivery of innovative and value-oriented offerings”.
It raises the question of whether Telkom offers significantly better value for money than South Africa’s largest mobile operator, Vodacom.
A comprehensive like-for-like comparison of mobile data products is challenging because of the volume of offerings in the market.
For this comparison, MyBroadband only looked at large contract data bundles, which are popular among South African smartphone users.
With the advent of WhatsApp messaging and calling, many South Africans have moved away from using voice minutes and SMSes.
They purchase large data bundles for their smartphones to meet all their communication needs. The most affordable data packages are offered on contracts.
MyBroadband’s analysis shows that Vodacom’s large contract data bundles range between R8.25 and R0.91 per GB. The average price is R3.72 per GB.
The average price per GB for Telkom’s large contract data bundles ranges between R7.92 and R2.05. The average price is R4.09 per GB.
The analysis shows that Vodacom’s prices align with Telkom’s for data contracts used by smartphone users.
However, that only tells part of the story. Vodacom’s products should be expected to be more expensive as it offers a superior network experience.
Telkom’s products only provide coverage on the operator’s own 4G network, and there is no roaming. There is also no 5G coverage.
Vodacom’s products, in comparison, offer 4G and 5G access, and its 4G network has over 98% population coverage in South Africa.
Telkom’s 4G network is much smaller than Vodacom. Only 46% of Telkom’s mobile data traffic is routed through its 4G network.
Vodacom’s data network quality is also much higher than Telkom’s. Its average data speed of 79.70 Mbps is significantly higher than Telkom’s 32.29 Mbps.
The tables below compare Vodacom and Telkom’s mobile data prices for high-end smartphone data contracts.
| Vodacom data package (GB) | Price | Price per GB |
| 12 | R99 | R8.25 |
| 25 | R169 | R6.76 |
| 50 | R199 | R3.98 |
| 200 | R299 | R1.50 |
| 400 | R379 | R0.95 |
| 440 | R399 | R0.91 |
| Average price | – | R3.72 |
| Telkom data package (GB) | Price | Price per GB |
| 12.5 | R99 | R7.92 |
| 22.5 | R129 | R5.73 |
| 40 | R159 | R3.98 |
| 80 | R209 | R2.61 |
| 120 | R269 | R2.24 |
| 180 | R369 | R2.05 |
| Average price | – | R4.09 |
Source: MyBroadband
Back