South Africa - roaming

MTN's R5 Africa roaming

MTN provides one-rate roaming in Africa.

MTN is building on its 2010 World Cup campaign by providing a standard R5 roaming price throughout Africa.

“No matter where you go in Africa, you can make and receive calls using your MTN cellphone for R5 a minute. If you prefer to just send SMSes, this is even more affordable at only R1.50 per SMS,” the MTN website states.

The per-minute roaming charges for MTN subscribers throughout Africa are as follows:

1. Local calls: R5
2. International calls: R5
3. Calling home: R5
4. Receiving calls: R5
5. Sending an SMS: R1.50
6. Receiving an SMS: Free

The R5 "Africa rate" compares favourably with MTN’s other international roaming rates which vary between R20 and R30 for international calls and R7.50 and R10 for local calls.

The charge of R1.50 per SMS while roaming in Africa is also lower than MTN’s standard international rate of R2.50 per SMS.

The rate of R5 per minute for receiving calls while in Africa is however higher that MTN’s standard international rate of R4.

MTN warns that the standard roaming rate does not apply to data services and advises customers to make themselves aware of these costs if they plan to make use of data services while traveling.