Telecel’s ZWL$400 Megaboost is pound for pound the best budget bundle in Zim

When it comes to combo (data, social media, voice and SMS) mobile network operator bundles there aren’t as many options out there as customers would like. The only choices on the market are Telecel’s MegaBoost and NetOne’s OneFusion bundles. Market leader Econet on the other hand doesn’t have one that comes close to what its competitors are offering. I mean YoMix is kind of their answer to that but that’s a story for another day.

We all know how expensive data is these days and how we are slowly being kraaled into the popular WhatsApp bundle. It’s honestly surprising that the year didn’t kick off with an announcement of an impending data price hike.

All of this means that most people are looking for the greatest value for money when it comes to an MNO designed combo bundle and out of all the three mobile network operators, Telecel’s ZWL$400 MegaBoost is the most bang for your buck out there.

Best budget bundle offer by some distance…

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Megaboost your life everyday with the best all in one combo package in the country from Telecel! To get your Megaboost, simply dial *480# today. T&C’s apply.#megaboost#staysafe#tellsomeone pic.twitter.com/NwsKyhjyub

— Telecel Zimbabwe (@Telecel_Zim) January 10, 2022

The bundle offers, 30 Telecel to Telecel minutes, 10 minutes to other networks, 100 SMSes, 100MB for WhatsApp and the same amount for Facebook and a general data offering for other apps. This puts it way ahead of what NetOne is offering with its cheapest OneFusion bundle.

	ZWL$400 MegaBoost	ZWL$550 OneFusion Lite
Off-Net Minutes	10	5
On-Net Minutes	30	15
SMS	100	5
WhatsApp	100MB	90MB
Facebook	100MB	–
General Data	100MB	180MB
Valid for	30 Days	30 Days

When it comes to calling minutes it’s not even close. Data on the other is a lot closer but the omission of another social media app has Telecel winning on this one.

Facebook might not be everyone’s favourite social media app but according to POTRAZ and Zimstat’s 2020 ICT Access by Households and Individuals Report, Facebook was top of all the other social media platforms in the “Private Purpose Use of a Mobile Cellular Phone” category at 16%. While Instagram, Twitter and other social apps came in at 4.2%, 3.9% and 0.5% respectively.

So at the very least, we can assume that Telecel knows the market. The only thing that could make Telecel’s Megaboost better is if it capitalises on TikTok’s rise worldwide. The social media site surpassed Google as the most used last year and there are plenty of Zimbabwean creators on the platform with a very strong following.

The elephant in the room

As good as this all is, Telecel’s biggest problem is that has the lowest market share of mobile data infrastructure across all the mobile network operators. So if you don’t live in an urban area, network coverage is going to be an issue.

Hopefully the system upgrade Telecel undertook over the festive period is a sign that things are looking up for the country’s smallest MNO. Econet and NetOne sorely need the competition.