Econet VS NetOne: Who Offers The Cheaper Data Bundles Now?

This week Econet and NetOne have both reviewed the tariffs for data bundles upwards and it’s now time to take a look at who is offering the better value for money.

Off late it has been harder to compare the pricing of data bundles for two reasons; the bundles change almost on a monthly basis and also the MNOs offer different packages – something which may have been done to make it harder to compare the bundles.

Regardless, it’s not impossible to compare and we will be taking a look at how many MBs you get for each dollar you spend.

Daily bundles

The new 24 hour bundles from Econet are structured as follows:

• $7 for 40MB – 5.7MB/$1
• $23 for 150MB – 6.5MB/$1
• $29 for 250MB – 8.6MB/$1
• $50 for 600MB – 12MB/$1
• $80 for 1200MB – 15MB/$1

For Econet’s 5 daily packages each dollar gets you anything between 5.7MB to 15MB for each dollar you spend.

NetOne’s daily bundles are structured as follows:

• $5 for 30MB – 6MB/$1
• $10 for 80MB -8MB/$1
• $20 for 200MB -10MB/$1
• $30 for 480MB -16MB/$1
• $50 for 960MB -19.2MB/$1
• $60 for $1200MB -20MB/$1

NetOne offers the consumer more choices with 6 packages and each dollar gets you anything between 6MB-20MB.

There are only two directly comparable packages. Both MNOs have $50 bundles and on NetOne consumers get 360MB more than they would on Econet.

The other comparable package is the 1.2GB package and NetOne subscribers currently pay $30 less than Econet subscribers.

Weekly bundles

The first thing to note with weekly bundles is that they are more expensive than daily bundles. Far more expensive. This is just how these promotional bundles work; the shorter the bundle lasts the cheaper it will be.

Econet’s weekly bundles are now packaged as follows after the most recent hike;

• $4.5 for 25MB – 5.5MB/$1
• $10 for 60MB – 6MB/$1
• $26 for 160MB – 6.1MB/$1
• $53 for 350MB – 6.6MB/$1
• $100 for 700MB – 7MB/$1

For Econet’s 5 weekly packages each dollar gets you between 5.5MB-7MB.

Alternatively, NetOne’s weekly bundles are structures as follows:

• $5 for 28MB – 5.6MB/$1
• $10 for 60MB – 6MB/$1
• $25 for 160MB – 6.4MB/$1
• $50 for 350MB – 7MB/$1
• $95 for 700MB – 7.3MB/$1

NetOne’s 5 weekly packages will get you between 5.5MB-7.3MB per dollar.

There are two directly comparable packages. The 350MB and 700MB packages which are $3 and $5 cheaper on NetOne.

For weekly bundles the difference is negligible and if you normally use Econet’s weekly bundles switching over to NetOne’s might not offer the same value it does for daily bundles.

We didn’t compare monthly bundles because most subscribers are better of getting LTE data lines from the likes of ZOL or TelOne or a home internet connection for similar amounts you have to pay for monthly bundles. A good illustration of this is the fact that for $430 you get 3.1GB on Econet. On Wibroniks you can get 30GB for $373 so that’s just the more logical approach.

Verdict

If you buy internet on a daily basis, NetOne right now has better-priced bundles than Econet and for weekly bundles, the difference is negligible and wouldn’t be worth much.