8.ta vs Vodacom vs MTN broadband prices.

This is a subject that wouldn't have affected too many people ten years ago, but, with the advent of smart phones and the number of people in South Africa that use them, the price of bandwidth is something that is affecting a growing percentage of our population.

 

For those that don't know what bandwidth is, an easy way to think of it is the amount of information you use on your wireless (or ADSL) connection through your service provider. Currently, we have the option of Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Virgin or 8.ta. There are more smaller ones, but they "piggyback" on those I have mentioned. I am going to concentrate on Vodacom, MTN & 8.ta

Currently it is possible to get a 24 month broadband contract from each of them. Vodacom & MTN are the old, original competitors in the field & keep a close eye on the others offerings. Over the years, they have swopped positions many times on who would be offering the best deals. Two years ago, Vodacom offered a  2gb per month contract for R199.00 (plus a bonus 2gb if you use it between midnight & 6 in the morning). As usual, MTN soon followed suit. MTN are now offering a 2gb contract for R149.00 per month. Better. But a year ago, I got a contract from 8.ta for 10gb per month for R199.00; which brings me to my gripe.

It seems to me that we are being overcharged - by MTN & Vodacom. We could be getting a lot more for our money. Admittedly, MTN & Vodacom have a far wider coverage. You can't get an 8.ta signal in Margate, St. Lucia, or Knysna, but this will change in time. So, even if the other two are investing much more on infrastructure for their service (plus it's upkeep), couldn't we be getting more for our money? I think we can.

Why do we need it? The technology that we use for doing business or just running our lives, (checking our medical aid web-site or updating our Windows operating system software) all relies on bandwidth used to connect to the internet. AND the files we download are getting bigger & bigger; so we need more bandwidth. Prices need to come down more to help us South Africans compete in the international market place. Our government is aware of this & has tried to assist by legislating better access and pricing, but I don't think enough is being done.

We need to look for better solutions, for all our sakes.