Mobile network operators Econet and NetOne have reviewed the prices of their mobile data bundle. The new mobile data prices are with effect from 5 May for Econet Wireless and 7 May for NetOne Cellular.
Below are the new prices for mobile data bundles being offered by the two biggest networks in the country. The prices are only for data bundles and do not include social media bundles for applications such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram among others.
New Prices for Mobile Data Daily Bundles
| Econet Daily Data bundle |
| Price |
MB |
MB/$1 |
| $5.5 |
20 |
3.64 |
| $11.00 |
40 |
3.64 |
| $20.00 |
80 |
4.00 |
| $37.00 |
150 |
4.05 |
| $60.00 |
250 |
4.17 |
| NetOne Daily Data bundle |
| Price |
MB |
MB/$1 |
| $8.00 |
30 |
3.8 |
| $15.00 |
80 |
5.3 |
| $30.00 |
200 |
6.7 |
| $60.00 |
480 |
8.0 |
| $80.00 |
960 |
12.0 |
| $100.00 |
1200 |
12.0 |
The pricing for the two operators has variations hence for comparison purposes value per megabyte shall be deduced per dollar. NetOne cheapest bundle for $8 is offering 3.8MB/$1, whilst Econet cheapest bundle is offering 3.64MB/$1. The offering is similar, however when one purchases bundles with higher prices for instances the $60 bundle for NetOne offers 8MB/$1 which is double the value being offered by Econet.
NetOne is offering daily data bundles for as little 8cents per megabyte which Econet cheapest daily bundle 24cents per megabyte which is three times the value being offered by NetOne. The telecoms company is not only offering value for daily data purchases but for monthly data bundles as well, as one gets to enjoy data for as little as 13cents per megabyte whilst Econet cheapest monthly bundle is 24cents per megabyte.
At face value NetOne seems to be charging more but when one takes does a cost benefit analysis, the telecommunications operator is offering more value to customers. NetOne customers also enjoy a 20% discount when they purchase their airtime via OneMoney which means a customer can get 1200MB for $80 if they make their airtime purchase via OneMoney and then convert the airtime to a bundle of their choice.
| NetOne One-Fi bundles |
| Old Price
(ZWL)$ |
New Price
(ZWL)$ |
Data Allocation
(GB) |
% increase |
| 400 |
650 |
25 |
63 |
| 800 |
1250 |
50 |
56 |
| 1200 |
1500 |
80 |
25 |
|
Econet Private Wifi bundles |
| Old Price
(ZWL)$ |
New Price
(ZWL)$ |
Data Allocation
(GB) |
% increase |
| 400 |
1300 |
25 |
225 |
| 800 |
2000 |
50 |
150 |
| 1000 |
|
|
|
Before the recent tariff hike NetOne and Econet were offering 25GB and 50GB bundles for ZWL $400 and ZWL $800. Econet hiked its wifi-bundle rates by 225% and 150%, NetOne on the other hand increased its One-Fi bundle rates by 63% and 56% respectively.
NetOne is offering affordable and reasonable data fees during the COVID-19 epidemic to assist with the spread of information regarding the coronavirus and employees in the private and public sector that are practicing social distancing by working from home.
