South African mobile data price lie – MyBroadband

South Africa’s mobile data prices compare very well with other African markets, particularly when factoring in the speeds and coverage provided by the top networks in each country.

In a recent interview with the SABC, communications minister Solly Malatsi said data prices need to be reduced so they no longer burden South Africans.

Malatsi pointed out that most people in the country accessed the Internet through a mobile device, but affordability inhibited how regularly they could consume data.

Media and tech giant Naspers has also published a report in collaboration with Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (Mistra), which stated that South Africa’s data prices were among the more expensive in Africa.

Although the source cited in the report is a five-year-old Fintech Scoping Study by National Treasury, the average amount of $1.81 (R32.34) per GB is the same as in Cable.co.uk’s most recent analysis of mobile data prices in 237 countries.

In that report, South Africa ranked 148th most affordable overall and the 20th most expensive out of 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

While South Africa ‘s average price of $1.81 (R32.34) per GB was substantially lower than the average of $2.59 (R46.22) across all the analysed countries, it was about R10 more expensive per GB than the median across all African countries.

However, Cable.co.uk’s analysis is based on 1GB mobile data bundle prices, which may no longer be the typical allocations relevant to South African consumers.

South Africa’s biggest mobile operator Vodacom recently reported the average smart device on its network consumed 3.8GB per month.

MTN’s average monthly data consumption per user recently exceeded an impressive 20GB.

Therefore, MyBroadband compared the prices of large data bundles available in several African markets — including other major economies and neighbouring countries — to see how they compared with South Africa’s.

In general, we found that South Africa’s mobile data prices performed much better with higher allocation bundles than when using 1GB bundle prices alone.

We calculated the average price of 1GB of data was R3.48 in South Africa when buying a four-bundle combo consisting of 20GB, 50GB, 100GB, and 200GB monthly bundles from Vodacom and MTN.

While far lower than Cable.co.uk’s average price, it was still more expensive than the R1.83 per GB we calculated for a similar combo bundle in Nigeria.

However, the value of the Nigerian naira has plummeted in the past year.

At the start of September 2024, one rand could buy about 89 naira. A year ago, it could only buy 40 naira.

That means the price per GB for the same bundles in September 2024 would have been R4.07 in September 2023, substantially more than the current price in South Africa.

Given the naira’s volatility, it is not entirely fair to compare Nigeria’s prices with other countries.

Furthermore, MTN wants to hike these tariffs but first has to get approval from the country’s regulator.

The only other African country that had cheaper large bundle data prices than South Africa was Egypt

However, one should consider that the average monthly net salary in Egypt is about a tenth of South Africa’s salary.

The table below compares the effective per-GB prices of mobile data in several African countries when buying larger bundles.

Unmatched mobile network quality in Africa

Another important factor to consider when comparing South Africa’s prices with the rest of the continent is where you are getting the best value for your money.

African mobile network performance can vary greatly from one country to the next, but there is little doubt that South Africa has the best mobile network speeds overall.

Results from Ookla’s Speedtest Index placed South Africa 52nd overall in the global rankings for mobile download speeds, with an average of 52.02Mbps, the fastest of any African country.

Algeria was the second-best African performer, with an average speed of 43.25Mbps, which places it in 61st place overall.

Users in Egypt and Nigeria, which have lower mobile data prices than South Africa, posted less than half the average download speed.

In addition to the speeds, South Africa has extensive mobile network coverage from multiple operators.

Vodacom and MTN have well over 98% of the population covered with 4G, and around half have access to 5G, putting South Africa far ahead of other countries regarding the latest generation of cellular connectivity.

MTN’s 4G population coverage in Nigeria is 84.2%, while 11.8% of the population has access to MTN’s 5G.

Vodacom and MTN invest significantly in their South African networks compared to their other African markets.

In the last financial year, Vodacom’s capital expenditure stood at R20.42 billion, R11.1 billion of which was pumped into its South African operation. That leaves just R9.32 billion split across its seven other African markets.

MTN spent R41.1 billion in capex across its 20 markets, with R10.1 billion going towards South Africa.

While it spent R12.7 billion in Nigeria, the spending in South Africa is disproportionately higher, considering Nigeria is a significantly bigger market for MTN.

In 2023, MTN Nigeria delivered over 73% more service revenue than South Africa.

The table below compares the average download speeds and 4G and 5G population coverage of the African countries that performed best on Ookla’s Speedtest Index in September 2024.