South Africa - prepaid 3G HSDPA on Vodacom (and MTN)

I've been exploring the options for travelers or those that don't want to (or can't) get a contract with Vodacom. A few months ago I blogged about how we have some of the cheapest (and accessible) 3G in the world so I recently went through a process recently of getting a Vodacom 'data bundle'. Unfortunately it's not as straight forward as you may expect.

You can get Internet access on the 3G/HSDPA network using your pre-paid (any Vodacom pre-paid card costs around R5 at any Pick n Pay or Spar, etc.) or contract SIM card using any phone or PC/USB card. If you phone doesn't 'just work' then you can register at Vodacom4me and follow instructions to download the settings to your phone (for MTN just enter *123*13#).

At the cost of R2, standard 3g HSDPA (or GPRS) may be globally competitive but it isn't ideal if you plan to use more than 100 MB.

The Vodacom web page here (and btw, MTN is similar here) describes the "Prepaid and Top Up data bundles". The table shows (prepaid) prices from 19c per MB to R1,19 (depending on the bundle) as an alternative to R2,00 using a 'data bundle', although it doesn't say anything about how to get a data bundle. So what do you do?

As a contract customer one would ask ones 'service provider' (SP) who usually won't know but will get back to you and explain that there are a few forms that you need to complete and fax to them (although interestingly you can order a once off data bundle at any time as well as a monthly recurring one).

So for prepaid the SP did not know and suggested to buy a 'pre-paid data bundle'. So I assumed that one could buy a data bundle anywhere where one buys airtime. After looking at half a dozen places that sell airtime I learned it's not the case. After I bought what I thought was a R49 data bundle from Spar, I followed the instructions and found that it was an SMS bundle, so I ended up with 60 useless SMS's. I spent half and hour navigating the ridiculous Vodacom IVR and waiting for a real person who kindly explained that the only way to get a data bundle is to load normal airtime first and then convert that to a data bundle by dialing *111# and following the voice prompts. I did that and then easily added a 500MB bundle for R189.

Some observations:
- although advertised, you can't get less than a 500MB (pre-paid) data bundle on Vodacom (although you can on MTN).
- you have a maximum of one month in which to use the data bundle (ie. use it or lose it)
- if you want to use pre-paid on a HSDPA or 3G modem, you need to take out the card and put it into a phone every time you want to reload a data bundle
- it may be desirable to buy the exact amount of pre-paid airtime rather than 2 x R110 vouchers but more on this thread

This is still the best (lowest cost with maximum coverage) way for an international traveler to get Internet access in South Africa.

Traveling (with) 3G HSDPA GPRS - don't roam - get prepaid

I recently learned the tough lessons of roaming, whilst in Lisbon I received 6 calls which I screened and sent to voicemail. That cost me R450 (more than my average monthly bill for 220 minutes). I also learned that if you roam on your data connection (something that I would do), it will cost 20-100 times your usual cost. Ridiculous!

The way to beat this is have someone look after your phone at home. If you want to pay the international rate of forwarding, then get that person to set up a manual forward to your prepaid number that you get when you arrive in country of destination. (seasoned travelers have multiple SIMs - what's the best SIM pouch?)

So buying a local prepaid SIM is the way to go. Useful site - http://www.prepaidgsm.net/ - has info worth perusing. They don't have info on SA which generally has a cost of R2/MB (or ~£0.15/MB). But it appears from a brief scan of the UK that the SIM to get is Threepay - offering 3G: £ 0.50 per 60 minutes (max 2MB) or £ 1.00 for 24 hours (up to 4MB). As opposed to the one not to get is Vodafone GPRS/3G: £7.50/MB - €11.03/MB