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"people do need to realise that a lot of Africa has very good 2G/3G coverage" This true, but the price is prohibitive. Most cell phone users in Africa are on p

"people do need to realise that a lot of Africa has very good 2G/3G coverage" This true, but the price is prohibitive. Most cell phone users in Africa are on prepaid mobile services which charge the equivalent of 20 US cents per MB for 2G/3G data. This is a lot of money for the average 3rd world cell phone user.

nuriaion 12y ago
When i was in Zimbabwe (5 Years ago) the biggest prepaid refill card you could buy was around 1$. (That was enough for a several minutes call back to Europe.) If you wanted more you had to buy several refill cards.
nmjohn 12y ago
$200/gb of bandwidth is expensive for anybody!
psykovsky 12y ago
In Portugal we have prepaid prices of €1.25 for 30MB and €1/hr for 2G/3G. I still find it insanely expensive. EDIT: Those 30MB are only valid for 24hrs max. As soon as midnight comes, you have to pay more €1.25 to get another 30MB valid until the end of the day.
- icebraining 12y ago
  Unless you really only need 30MB or less, you're better off getting the 200MB prepaid package for €2.9, which isn't nearly as bad in €/MB.
  - psykovsky 12y ago
    200MB... like that lasts a month. After you spend the 200MB you'll have to pay €1.25 for 30MB, valid only until midnight of the same day. There's no paying €2.9 for 200MB more. Nuances...
AmirS2 12y ago
Kenya has pretty good rates for prepaid data, approx 1 US cent per MB if you buy a 500Mb bundle: http://www.safaricom.co.ke/personal/internet/data-plans/prepay-data-bundles http://www.safaricom.co.ke/personal/internet/data-plans/prep... 500KSH for the 500Mb bundle, current FX rate is 90KSH/USD. Even the smallest bundle, 4Mb, is hardly more expensive per MD, at only 5 KSH (5.6 cents). Are these prices unrepresentative of other African countries?
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- 4ad 12y ago
  1c/MB is a huge price even for me in a western country. For me, it's between $1k and $2k a month! For Africans the cost is even higher.
  - eitally 12y ago
    You probably wouldn't use nearly as much data if the speeds were only 2G/3G.
  - calinet6 12y ago
    Was in Senegal a few years ago, frequently bought 100MB for 5,000CFA (about $10). At least that's what I remember. Is Orange just cheaper or is that about right?
- ybalkind 12y ago
  That bundle price in Kenya is pretty good by African Standards, but I do not think its representative. And even if it is, the masses do not have 5$ to put towards data bundles (bare in mind that they also have to buy airtime bundles just to use voice and SMS), so they end up paying the out-of-bundle data rates, which are about 20 times higher than the in-bundle rates.
- lifeisstillgood 12y ago
  God damn I just "topped up" my paltry 1GB per month in the UK at a cost almost twice that. I don't care if information wants to be free, but I want my bandwidth to be free :-) Edit: more seriously is control over the bandwidth usage. I notice my phone does a lot of background work that I either don't have control over or might do but is so diffuse to control I cannot be bothered. A few tens of dollars a month is annoying but it's not making me choose between food or bandwidth as it might in other areas. I would hope that phones like the locked down android become more widespread or some other approach (can you write an app that controls other apps bandwidth?)
gregschlom 12y ago
Don't know about the rest of Africa, but in Cape Verde I was paying 15 euros for 5 gigabytes of 3G bandwidth. I was buying two of those cards per month on average, which was on par with an internet bill in the US or in Europe.
- mslot 12y ago
  Except, corrected for average purchasing power in Cape Verde, that's about 10 times more expensive.
- imanaccount247 12y ago
  On par with an internet bill that provides far more than 10GB of data. I get 300GB for that price for example, and anything I transfer at night doesn't count towards that cap.
  - calinet6 12y ago
    But you're getting that bandwidth in Africa, so honestly that's not bad. Not really a fair and equal comparison...
    - imanaccount247 12y ago
      But the claim was the Africa doesn't need better internet because they have 2g/3g. Go ask anyone in Africa if they wish they had more bandwidth, more data, and lower prices.
tribaal 12y ago
Datapoint: I am in Tanzania. I pay 20k TSH per month for 800Mb of 3/4G data, and more talk time and SMS that I will ever need. (That's about 10USD)

nuriaion 12y ago

When i was in Zimbabwe (5 Years ago) the biggest prepaid refill card you could buy was around 1$. (That was enough for a several minutes call back to Europe.) If you wanted more you had to buy several refill cards.

nmjohn 12y ago

$200/gb of bandwidth is expensive for anybody!

psykovsky 12y ago

In Portugal we have prepaid prices of €1.25 for 30MB and €1/hr for 2G/3G. I still find it insanely expensive. EDIT: Those 30MB are only valid for 24hrs max. As soon as midnight comes, you have to pay more €1.25 to get another 30MB valid until the end of the day.

icebraining 12y ago
Unless you really only need 30MB or less, you're better off getting the 200MB prepaid package for €2.9, which isn't nearly as bad in €/MB.
- psykovsky 12y ago
  200MB... like that lasts a month. After you spend the 200MB you'll have to pay €1.25 for 30MB, valid only until midnight of the same day. There's no paying €2.9 for 200MB more. Nuances...

AmirS2 12y ago

Kenya has pretty good rates for prepaid data, approx 1 US cent per MB if you buy a 500Mb bundle: http://www.safaricom.co.ke/personal/internet/data-plans/prepay-data-bundles http://www.safaricom.co.ke/personal/internet/data-plans/prep... 500KSH for the 500Mb bundle, current FX rate is 90KSH/USD. Even the smallest bundle, 4Mb, is hardly more expensive per MD, at only 5 KSH (5.6 cents). Are these prices unrepresentative of other African countries?

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
4ad 12y ago
1c/MB is a huge price even for me in a western country. For me, it's between $1k and $2k a month! For Africans the cost is even higher.
- eitally 12y ago
  You probably wouldn't use nearly as much data if the speeds were only 2G/3G.
- calinet6 12y ago
  Was in Senegal a few years ago, frequently bought 100MB for 5,000CFA (about $10). At least that's what I remember. Is Orange just cheaper or is that about right?
ybalkind 12y ago
That bundle price in Kenya is pretty good by African Standards, but I do not think its representative. And even if it is, the masses do not have 5$ to put towards data bundles (bare in mind that they also have to buy airtime bundles just to use voice and SMS), so they end up paying the out-of-bundle data rates, which are about 20 times higher than the in-bundle rates.
lifeisstillgood 12y ago
God damn I just "topped up" my paltry 1GB per month in the UK at a cost almost twice that. I don't care if information wants to be free, but I want my bandwidth to be free :-) Edit: more seriously is control over the bandwidth usage. I notice my phone does a lot of background work that I either don't have control over or might do but is so diffuse to control I cannot be bothered. A few tens of dollars a month is annoying but it's not making me choose between food or bandwidth as it might in other areas. I would hope that phones like the locked down android become more widespread or some other approach (can you write an app that controls other apps bandwidth?)

gregschlom 12y ago

Don't know about the rest of Africa, but in Cape Verde I was paying 15 euros for 5 gigabytes of 3G bandwidth. I was buying two of those cards per month on average, which was on par with an internet bill in the US or in Europe.

mslot 12y ago
Except, corrected for average purchasing power in Cape Verde, that's about 10 times more expensive.
imanaccount247 12y ago
On par with an internet bill that provides far more than 10GB of data. I get 300GB for that price for example, and anything I transfer at night doesn't count towards that cap.
- calinet6 12y ago
  But you're getting that bandwidth in Africa, so honestly that's not bad. Not really a fair and equal comparison...
  - imanaccount247 12y ago
    But the claim was the Africa doesn't need better internet because they have 2g/3g. Go ask anyone in Africa if they wish they had more bandwidth, more data, and lower prices.

tribaal 12y ago

Datapoint: I am in Tanzania. I pay 20k TSH per month for 800Mb of 3/4G data, and more talk time and SMS that I will ever need. (That's about 10USD)