#BeUnordinary
posters, and a Twitter account were the first signs South Africans had that a new network was coming to town. The mobile network, now known as me&you, is set to launch today (Monday, 4 May).
The launch of me&you comes at a time where a number of customers are feeling disillusioned with MTN, Cell C and
Vodacom, following their unexpected
rates increases for their contract and prepaid customers.
Me&you is a strictly SIM only network, meaning that you do not need to buy a new phone, and can register for the network online.
Therefore, if you want to change networks, or have a spare phone laying around, you can order, and insert the SIM straight into the card.
The registration fee for the SIM card is R29.
“Me&you mobile is an MVNO: mobile virtual network operator – it operates independently in terms of product offering, billing, operations, brand and logistics,” explains the me&you site.
An MVNO purchases its products at wholesale rates from a larger network, which in this case is Cell C, and utilises its infrastructure.
SIMs can be bought online, through the
me&you website, as well as data and talk-time bundles.
Me&you bundles
You can choose a bundle that suits you (see below) on a monthly basis. That means that if you, for example, choose a R50 bundle for this month, and next month you decide you want a R200 bundle, then you can do that.
The me&you website also highlighted that “in order to ensure that you are always connected, you can exceed your chosen bundle amount to a maximum of double your commitment. This is your credit limit. For example, if your chosen bundle is R100, your credit limit will be R100 – which means you can spend up to R200 in total.”
All bundles, and extra costs are paid for online through your account. The benefit to choosing me&you is that the more you spend on a bundle, the cheaper your talk time costs are. However, if you spend more on SMS, MMS and data bundles the rates stay the same.
|
|
R50 |
R100 |
R200 |
R400 |
R500 |
|
Talk |
R0.69 per min |
R0.69 per min |
R0.59 per min |
R0.49 per min |
R0.39 per min |
|
SMS |
R0.60 per SMS |
R0.60 per SMS |
R0.60 per SMS |
R0.60 per SMS |
R0.60 per SMS |
|
MMS |
R0.70 per MMS |
R0.70 per MMS |
R0.70 per MMS |
R0.70 per MMS |
R0.70 per MMS |
|
Data |
R0.99 per MB |
R0.99 per MB |
R0.99 per MB |
R0.99 per MB |
R0.99 per MB |
Source:
Me&you, correct as of 4 May 2015.
Me&you extra data bundles
If you want to buy an extra data bundle, on top of the original bundle, then you can do that too. The data bundles give you cheaper rates for data, thus giving you more data to use every month.
|
|
100MB |
200MB |
300MB |
500MB |
1GB |
2 GB |
|
Cost |
R25 |
R50 |
R75 |
R125 |
R150 |
R300 |
|
Data per MB |
R0.25 |
R0.25 |
R0.25 |
R0.25 |
R0.15 |
R0.15 |
|
Cell C / price per MB |
R19 / R0.19 |
N/A |
R55 / R0.18 |
R85 / R0.17 |
R149 / R0.15 |
R245 / R0.12 |
|
Vodacom / price per MB |
R29 / R0.29 |
N/A |
N/A |
R99 / R0.20 |
R149 / R0.15 |
R249 / R0.12 |
|
MTN / price per MB |
R35 / R0.38 |
N/A |
R85 / R0.29 |
R105 / R0.20 |
R160 / R0.15 |
R260 / R0.12 |
Source:
Me&you,
Cell C,
Vodacom,
MTN. Correct as of 4 May 2015.
However, compared to the other mobile operators, the me&you data bundles are not the cheapest. Cell C seems to be the cheapest in terms of data prices, and per MB billing.
Registering your SIM
Once you have ordered your me&you SIM card, you have two options in terms of delivery: standard mail, which will cost you nothing, or courier which is R60 extra and your SIM will arrive within 24 to 48 hours.
The me&you website said that once your SIM card is sent to you, you simply log into the site, RICA the card, and then register it.
The login in details for the site are what you will use in order to change your bundle, to top up, or to pay for overuse on your current bundle.
How to port your number
If you want to keep your original number, then the me&you site offers an easy way to port.
Once you have received your SIM card, login to your profile and visit the My SIMs page, explains me&you.
Once you have clicked ‘activate’, the me&you sites explains that you will receive a call to confirm the porting process is underway.
“The porting process can sometimes be delayed by your current network but in most cases the port will take about 24 hours,” said me&you.
There could be a delay in porting because there might be outstanding amounts still owed on your current network, lines that are still within its contract term, or incorrect information was submitted to authorise the port.
The site goes on to explain that “your current number will cut off at 19:00 on the evening your port is cleared by your network and your new SIM will be active early the next morning – normally around 6am when the sparrows get up!”
However, if you already have a me&you mobile SIM but have not yet requested to port your number, you can do so by logging in to your profile and requesting to port in the “Manage SIMs” area.
Once you have done so the above steps will apply to you.
