Zimbabwe’s two biggest fixed internet service providers have both changed their pricing and they have used the same spin: our prices have not increased, we are merely aligning to the monetary policy.
Kind of reminds one of, “The president and his family are safe, we are targeting the criminals around him.” I’ll end it there and jump right into it:
Capped packages in RTGS$
TelOne Capped Data Pricing in RTGS$
| Capped Package | Data Cap | RTGS$ Price | RTGS$ Price Per GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Basic | 10GB | $37.50 | $3.75 |
| Home Plus | 30GB | $62.50 | $2.08 |
| Home Premier | 60GB | $105.00 | $1.75 |
| Infinity Pro | 500GB | 222.50 | $0.45 |
ZOL Capped Data Pricing in RTGS$
| Capped Package | Data Cap | RTGS$ Price | RTGS$ Price Per GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | 40GB | $72.50 | $1.81 |
| Basic | 50GB | $97.50 | $1.95 |
| Family | 100GB | $222.50 | $2.23 |
First, the pricing for TelOne packages makes sense in that the price per GB gets cheaper when you are buying more. The ZOL trend above is quite irrational, they punish you for spending more.
TelOne starts of at a ridiculous $3.75 per GB! Subjectively, it feels like TelOne is more expensive per GB that they give you in general. I say subjectively because the comparison is difficult because the two ISP’s hardly have any similar packages. You can’t take averages because these are disparate bands.
If…
If you have a maximum $50 to spend, ZOL will not even talk to you about fibre, TelOne will give 10GB and leave you with some little change to augment with mobile data.
However, ZOL has a package called Zoom. It’s only available to residents of Warren Park. I guess they will roll it out to other high density suburbs. For $47.50 you get 25GB on Zoom which is significantly lower per GB when compared to the TelOne entry level package.
What if you had $100? Well ZOL will give you 50GB of data and $2.50 change wotenga ma sweets. On TelOne you will get 30GB for $62.50 and because TelOne’s billing is flexible, you can also get the 10GB for $37.50 and your $100 will be exhausted. Still after doing all that, you would have got 10GB less data than what ZOL offers you with change. ZOL wins.
Conveniently, both companies have packages that cost $222.50. ZOL gives you 100GB for that amount and TelOne gives you a generous 500GB! TelOne wins.
Capped packages in USD
TelOne Capped Data Pricing in USD
| Capped Package | Data Cap | USD Price | USD Price per GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Basic | 10GB | $15.00 | $1.50 |
| Home Plus | 30GB | $25.00 | $0.83 |
| Home Premier | 60GB | $42.00 | $0.70 |
| Infinity Pro | 500GB | $89.00 | $0.18 |
ZOL Capped Data Pricing in USD
| Capped Package | Data Cap | Price in USD | Price Per GB in USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | 40GB | $29.00 | $0.73 |
| Basic | 50GB | $39.00 | $0.78 |
| Family | 100GB | $89.00 | $0.89 |
The trends in USD terms are similar.
Uncapped packages
ZOL’s uncapped packages start at $149 or $372.50 in USD and RTGS respectively. TelOne’s uncapped package is priced at USD120 or RTGS$300 which is cheaper than ZOL.
However ZOL Wibroniks has an uncapped plan that is priced cheaper than TelOne at USD72 or RTGS$179.
No obvious choice
The above shows there are too many nuances to declare any one provider more affordable. Affordability is a very relative term. What budget do you have? How much of the internet do you use? Doing what? Without answers to those questions, choosing a provider is difficult.
Other factors must also be considered for example: where do you live and are both service providers available for that area? Which type of connectivity do they provide there? For example, TelOne could be available but only offering ADSL which you can’t compare to fibre that is of course if you need high speeds for stuff like streaming.
TelOne as already mentioned has fair and flexible billing. At whatever time you buy data, it’s gonna last you 30 days. ZOL bills per calendar month. If you run out before the month is done your only option is to top up at a very exorbitant rate.
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13 comments
You have left out 2 critical things. Connection speeds and support. Telone is primarily ADSL at low speeds compared to ZOL. Telone also be has very poor support, especially outside Harare. Prices include support services and speed, so they should be included in the comparisons.
The rationale of the zol price increasing per GB could be premised on those who can afford cushioning those who can’t, thus allowing for affordable internet for those in lower income brackets. Those who can afford the higher packages are less concerned about cost, but rather speed and cap limits.
So on capped data, ZOL gets MORE EXPENSIVE PER-GB the bigger your cap??? That makes absolutely no sense. Is it some sort of strategy to “herd” customers towards uncapped? It’s a pretty stupid strategy.
Yea there are a number of things to compare. I thought I had highlighted the ADSL caveat, I didn’t labour the point though.
Not too sure about how they two compare when it comes to support. Folks in either camps will probably be complaining equally loudly.
The ZOL speeds for the capped packages are the same hey. Yeah maybe ZOL has a pricing structure motivated by altruism
Still wrapping head around the pricing structure. Maybe Imi Vanhu Musadaro’s suggestion is the reason: altruism
I have strong doubts though, probably something that was just not thought through
Chaora chinhu ichi!
Is the night owl of Zol still available? If yes what additional price?
This too much iYooo nonsense
This too much iYooo nonsense
Another school of thought is that the lower cost ZOL packages seem cheap, until you decide to buy a top-up. Then that’s when they get you.
ZOL top ups are a NO NO, it’s cheaper to buy mobile bundles until the next billing cycle. Their billing system is deliberately made to make you buy top ups. Argument makes sense. Maybe they should have made it cheaper per GB than the more expensive packages as well
Is this true, coz the website hasnt updated
It’s true Dudley. These people sometimes delay updating their websites
The telone prices will be efective as of 1 April