State-owned mobile network operator, NetOne Cellular yesterday announced that it would be increasing data bundle tariffs today. And like many, I was expecting a modest rise in prices however what I saw when I went to NetOne’s One-Fi bundles scared the life out of me…
NetOne One-Fi Bundle Prices
| Bundle | Old Price (ZWL$) | New Price (ZWL$) |
|---|---|---|
| One-Fi 10GB | $4 500 | $16 250 |
| One-Fi Plus 25GB | $6 500 | $40 700 |
| One-Fi Ultra 50GB | $10 250 | $81 400 |
| One-Fi Extreme 80GB | $12 500 | $99 000 |
The headline figure there is ZWL$99,000 for 80 GB, which is a crazy increase from the ZWL$12,500 that was gazetted in December 2021. However, the lower cap of 10GB for ZWL$16,250 is probably going to hit harder than most because the entry-level bundle has gone up by more than three and a half times.
At these sorts of prices, it might be best to switch to ZOL’s Wibroniks or Telco’s Wi-Max if you are using these bundles for work or school. The initial cost of the investment (for equipment and installation) might be expensive but at the moment it’s probably not worth paying ZWL$99,000 for 80GB when you can get 100GB on ZOL’s Wibroniks for ZWL$12,790 or Small Office uncapped for ZWL$47,088.
Furthermore the new One-Fi prices according to the auction rate of USD1:ZWL124 (as of the 22nd of February 2022) are:
- 10 GB for ZWL$16 250 – US$131.00
- 25 GB for ZWL$40 700 – US$328.23
- 50 GB for ZWL$81 400 – US$656.45
- 80 GB for ZWL$99 000 – US$798.39
All of this begs the question as to what rate NetOne uses for these bundle prices in local currency because those prices in USD are more than what people are paying for home fibre uncapped packages. Also, we called NetOne customer services to ask if these new prices were an error and we were told that they are correct…
Anyway, here is the rest of NetOne’s new data bundle price adjustment…
NetOne general data bundle prices
| Package | New Price (ZWL$) |
|---|---|
| Hourly 1GB | 1 625.00 |
| Hourly 1GB (valid for 2 Hrs) | 1 625.00 |
| Daily 30MB | 47.70 |
| Daily 80MB | 127.00 |
| Daily 200MB | 318.00 |
| Daily 480MB | 765.00 |
| Daily 960MB | 1 525.00 |
| Daily 1200MB | 1 910.00 |
| Weekly 30MB | 47.50 |
| Weekly 60MB | 95.50 |
| Weekly 160MB | 255.00 |
| Weekly 350MB | 555.00 |
| Weekly 700MB | 1 115.00 |
| Weekly 5000MB | 7 950.00 |
| Monthly 200 MB | 318.00 |
| Monthly 450MB | 715.00 |
| Monthly 1500MB | 2 390.00 |
| Monthly 3500MB | 5 550.00 |
| Monthly 5000MB | 7 950.00 |
| Monthly 8000MB | 12 700.00 |
New One Fusion data bundle prices
| Package | Price | Package |
|---|---|---|
| OneFusion Lite | 1 800.00 | – 15 Mins OnNet – 5 Minutes OffNet – 180MB Data – 90MB WhatsApp – 5 SMS Valid for 30 days |
| OneFusion Gold | 3 550.00 | – 25 Mins Voice OnNet – 10 Mins OffNet – 400MB Data – 160MB WhatsApp – 25 SMS Valid for 30 days |
| OneFusion Premium | 9 300.00 | – 80 Mins Voice OnNet – 60 Mins OffNet – 5 Mins International Calls – 1GB Data – 360MB WhatsApp – 30 SMS Valid for 30 days |
NetOne Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram bundle prices
| – | Price | Package | Valid for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | 31.80 | 20MB | 24 hours |
| Daily | 79.50 | 50MB | 24 hours |
| Weekly | 111.00 | 70MB | 7 days |
| Weekly | 238.00 | 150MB | 7 days |
| Monthly | 478.00 | 300MB | 30 days |
| Monthly | 1 190.00 | 750MB | 30 days |
When will it end?
This price increase will surely have a knock-on effect on the other operators. And it stands to reason that NetOne got the go-ahead from the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) to increase the prices, especially that astronomical jump in the One-Fi packages.
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