Unlimited Internet Uganda: Vodafone’s Unlimited Internet package could be the best we know

Vodafone Uganda joined the fierce telecom market in Uganda in November last year. They launched with relatively affordable internet devices consisting of USB Modems, Mi-Fis and routers.

Vodafone Uganda’s data pricing structure was carefully aligned with the competition except for the daily data bundle that was priced at a crazy UGX 2,400 for only 50MB. However Vodafone instantly recognized this miscalculated move and re-calibrated its daily 50MB data bundle to be in line with the market. It now goes for UGX 1,000 just like Africell (formerly Orange Uganda).

Advertisement - Continue reading below

While introducing voice SIM cards, Vodafone added the unlimited internet tier to its family of data packages — something that other players like MTN Uganda, Airtel Uganda have strategically avoided. That leaves us with Africell Uganda and Smart Telecom Uganda and Uganda Telecom both of whom are offering unlimited internet bundles.

But how do these four stuck up against each other?

Unlimited Internet Uganda    
TelecomData volumeDurationspeedprice
Vodafone UgandaUnlimitedMonthly 2mbpsUGX 149,900
Smile UgandaUnlimitedMonthly 2mbpsUGX 179,000
Uganda TelecomUnlimitedMonthly 1mbpsUGX 210,000
Africell UgandaUnlimitedMonthly 0.5mbps UGX 299,000
Smart TelecomUnlimitedMonthly 2mbpsUGX 479,000

Disclaimer: For the sake of simplicity, we like to use price as a common denominator while comparing data service plans. However pricing alone is by no means the sole determining factor when selecting a provider. You have other factors such as data speeds, coverage, installation, reliability and customer care to consider. We obtained information presented here from the respective operators’ websites at the time of publishing this post. Therefore we are not liable for any information provided here. 

Now you can see that Vodafone Uganda unlimited internet bundle costs UGX 149,900 for speeds of 2mbps. The magic number here is 2mbps. That’s really fast for unlimited internet plan. The telecoms usually provide these kind of speeds for capped or bundled data plans such as the daily 50MB or monthly 2GB data plans.

Now to drive the point home, lets compare Vodafone Uganda unlimited internet plan to Africell/Orange Uganda unlimited internet package. Africell is offering unlimited internet for a price of UGX 299,000/month but for only 0.5mbps internet speeds. That’s four times slower than Vodafone Uganda yet at twice as much! But make no mistake, Africell’s capped packages aka MBs have fast internet speeds that go as fast as 5mbps.

Unlimited Internet Uganda    
TelecomData volumeDurationspeedprice
Uganda TelecomUnlimitedMonthly 0.5mbps UGX 105,000
Smart TelecomUnlimitedMonthly 0.5mbps UGX 199,000
Africell UgandaUnlimitedMonthly 0.5mbpsUGX 299,000

Uganda Telecom unlimited internet packages are also quite interesting. UTL is offering unlimited monthly plans of UGX 105,000/0.5mbps, UGX 210,000/1mbps , UGX 250,000/3mbps. Still Vodafone seems to offer faster speeds for less although UTL beats Africell and Smart when it comes to both price and speed.

Advertisement - Continue reading below

If you however wish to go as fast as Vodafone Uganda, then Smart Telecom Uganda unlimited is your choice. However,Smart Telecom Uganda unlimited internet package costs a whooping  UGX 479,000/month for the same speeds as Vodafone. For same speeds of 2mbps on Smart, you have to pay about 3 times as much as what you would part with on Vodafone. Unless you have a thing for Smart Telecom, it totally doesn’t make economic sense to put your money there.

Vodafone Uganda has daily, weekly and monthly unlimited internet packages costing UGX 17,900, UGX 69,000, UGX 149,000 respectively all at 2mps speeds. Smart Uganda on the other hand has UGX 25,000 weekly unlimited plan and several monthly plans determined by varying internet speeds.


Read more: Vodafone vs Smile vs Africell Uganda unlimited internet package, who’s the best?


Keep in mind that you will have to incur device and installation costs before you get plugged into any of these unlimited internet packages. For instance for Africell/Orange, all you need is a simple USB dongle while for Vodafone, you’ll have to purchase 4G LTE Mi-Fi. Smart and Uganda Telecom will require site surveys and then one-time fee for internet devices or Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE) that will hook you up to their network. These CPEs are usually Fixed devices like your TV external antenna which means you won’t move around with them the way you do with Mi-Fi or USB dongle.

The winner is clear — Vodafone Uganda seems to have a vision of forever saving us from the plague of capped internet aka MBs. But don’t take our word for it, let us know what your choice would be in this poll or in the comments

Links

Smart Telecom unlimited data,

Vodafone Uganda unlimited data,

Advertisement - Continue reading below

Uganda Telecom unlimited data,

Africell unlimited data.

Image: conversation.which.co.uk

LIKE WHAT YOU ARE READING?

Sign up to our Newsletter for expert advice and tips of how to get the most out of your Tech Gadgets

24 thoughts on “Unlimited Internet Uganda: Vodafone’s Unlimited Internet package could be the best we know

  1. About time there was a drop in pricing, I hope its not just promotional pricing! You didnt mention the drool worthy unlimited data 200,000 6mbps they have

    • Yeah, Vodafone has shaken up the unlimited tier. You simply can’t get those speeds for unlimited internet.Imagine UGX 200,000 at 6mbps!!! Meanwhile their bundled plans are still at par with everyone else unfortunately

      • You need to redo this @david.
        Vodafone re-introduced theirs but for new customers.
        MTN has thrown their hat in the ring
        And smile has that Juggernaut at 330,000 that is capped at 200GB

  2. I hope these tantalizing offers are sustainable, from an economic perspective. History tells us that these service providers at inception make very tempting packages only for them to start “cheating” us three months later…

  3. Great analysis Mr. Okwii except you forgot to add that Vodafone unlike Africell still has FUP caps on the unlimited offers. In effect, their unlimited offers are not truly unlimited since they throttle speeds to as low as 256Kbps when you breach the FUP caps.

      • @oquidave:disqus Please see terms and conditions of their Fair Usage Policy (FUP). For instance, the daily unlimited offer only gives 1.5GB and the monthly 2Mbps unlimited only gives you 35GB volume. If you go beyond, they throttle your speeds as per FUP. But the offers are great all the same!!!

        • Thanks for shedding some more light on this. There’s lot of compromise to be made at the end day. However, for personal usage, these limits make practical sense. It you are a home or an organization of more than 5 people, those limits are not realistic.

          • Well @oquidave:disqus, I took the liberty to get myself a MiFi and the 2Mbps unlimited offer….As I had predicted, in 1 week, i had run down the usage cap of 35GB and alas the speeds were throttled ,albeit below usable speeds. In fact below 256Kbps. The idea of very high speeds and a low volume cap defeats the logic of unlimited internet in all possible ways. Over to you for the verdict on who offers a better unlimited experience.

          • Internet speed 5mps costing 150k (£40) is broad day atealing from the poor Ugandans. UCC need to do global market surveys such that Ugandans can get value for their money.

            I have contract with stupid Vodafone UK but still it feels better than what my brothers and sister are experiencing.

            Monthly pay £36
            Unlimited data usage ( I have not known of any limit).
            17.5 Mbps
            Free iPhone 6.
            Unlimited UK calls
            Unlimited text messages

            BT compared to UTL
            unlimited wifi 17.5 Mbps @ £17.5 ( Ugx 69k)
            Free home lines and free uk mobile and land line calls to any network

            Sky compared to orange
            Unlimited wifi 17.5 Mbps and sky TV @£27 (Ugx 104k) free 32″ lg flat screen when u take up contract with them.
            Free homeline and free uk calls to mobiles and landlines to any network

            Talk talk compared to Orange
            17.5 Mbps wifi
            £17.5 per months
            Free home line and free calls to mobile and landlines of any network.

            You can see that how the poor and illiterate are been robed and the wealthier and knowledgeable continues to live less costly life.

            Let our leaders negotiate well with these companies such that we don’t remain in abject poverty and continue to loose the little we have.

  4. Based
    on the table no carrier in Uganda gives unlimited internet… Unlimited
    means without limits no caps on speeds and volume…. So these chaps
    shd stop using the word unlimited… It just annoys me (speaking like a
    common data user)

    • @rogekk:disqus am not sure any one in the World can afford a perfectly unlimited offer in the literal sense without a speed cap at least…..even what ISPs buy from Tier 1 upstream providers is not unlimited 🙂 How would they sell what they don’t have?

      • There is unlimited internet and if you have 4G technology whos max speeds are say 100mbps if you give unlimited internet dont throttle ppl on speeds. I know wireless is a shared technology. Thats why its only cable companies in Europe are the few that I have seen who can use the word unlimited. But hey they all have to make dimes at the end of the day…. so its understandable

    • What is UCC’s standard of “unlimited internet”? If the Telecoms are misleading us, then UCC should come out and do some consumer protection

  5. Vodafone’s unlimited is not actually unlimited. UCC introduced a user policy that caps your internet to 256kbps when you have used up 50GB. So, u gotta use use 50GB wisely if you still want to enjoy the blistering speeds throughout the month, otherwise you will be stuck with 265kbps until you resubscribe….

  6. If at a time A some one wakes up and realize that VODAFONE is the most expensive ISP, you will never go back to it, some people dont know the meaning of UNLIMITED, vodafone doesnt have unlimited internet, its smart, uganda telecom and africell that has unlimited, and mtn if your using DSL modems, vodafone just gives 50gb, if you miss use them they cap you to 256kbps, and africell they tell you we are giving you unlimited for 512kbps and that will be the speed for the whole month, uganda telcome goes upto 3mbps, and that will be your speed no matter how much you download, and the good thing with utl is that you can even pause your data, and keep some days for the coming month, i dont know much about smart, but atleast have used uganda telecom and africell unlimited internet, you vote for vodafone, and go it, at the time you come to realize hoe expensive it is, nga kili more than late.

  7. Now I feel so boiled and scalded right not….am damn angry at some SHITTIC service provider called Vodafone….It’s quite recent since they set their feet on Ugandan economy and as the usual vulture scammers streaming down on carcass, they have swept us off our feet leaving us in mid air as we hard land on bare rocks deep in a canyon we cannot pull ourselves from!!! Let me tell you something, These guyz are legally stealing from the hustling public and its high time we had some tough laws that would fell such scam coops down.

    Unlimited internet is what attracted me to Vodafone with their mantis looking mi-fi. Ugx 150,000 to be exact was the charge they gladly took through the painted nail fingers of a non-charming service front lady. I though the red label that looks like a rounded tear from the wizard of Oz’s one eye was genuine this time round…since they had given Man-U an image some time back, I was dead wrong fellas..this was he old-time deuce masquerading in a sheep’s fur. I had no idea what I was in for. the unlimited was off in a week and the speeds came down from 1.0mbps to 65kbps!! shocking…I thought it was a weekend thing, only to call the desk and be told there was a capping…DAMN DAMN DAMN!!! WTF…..you tell me that you are selling me unlimited and it turns out to be LIMITED….somebody needs to smoke these guys off this economy.

    Today I decided to buy the Ugx.18,000 package from their website that read unlimited for 24 hours and guess what…they struck with their evil again. I felt tainted at heart and quite disturbed to the bones…how can I be deceived twice? a grown man like me….here I am right now on a call with their tech team that seems to have been picked from a scrap-land [who thought constant decade-long gaze at strewn electronics sort of automatically graduated them to a tech team].

    SEND WORD OUT THERE…..NO ONE SHOULD EVERY THINK OF BUYING VODAFONE AGAIN…..stay out of that graveyard, lest you get roasted and cremated afterwards. We still nee to remember you partner.

    • No internet in Uganda is really unlimited, all have FUP Cap after u dropped to a lower nagging speed. Example vodafone unlimited for one day is actually 1.5gb and when its done your dropped down to 128kbs

  8. Well, they (Vodafone) just throttled down speeds on the unlimited from 256kbps to 128kbps. Now I can’t even open basic email. They sent an email 4 days ago. I’m quite miffed by the way….

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.