Remember Warid’s sensational Pakalast promotion that promised subscribers 24-hours of free calls? Smart Telecom Uganda is using the same strategy to break into the Ugandan Telecom market for both voice and data services.
Smart is offering the cheapest data rates as far as we know as a clever stunt to lure customers to its side. The company is for instance selling Smart SIM card pack for only UGX 500 and users can enjoy free calls for a whole month a only UGX 1000.
Smart Telecom Uganda data rates
| Duration | Package | Cost (Ugx) | How to access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | 1.5GB | 999 | *100*1*1*3*6*4# |
| Weekly | 2GB | 4,999 | *100*1*2*3*6*4# |
| Monthly | 2GB | 9,999 | *100*1*3*3*6*2# |
Let’s compare that with what other networks are offering.
Uganda Networks data comparison chart
| Data | Orange | MTN | Airtel | UTL | Smart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | |||||
| 50MB | 1,000 | 1,200 | 1,000 | 600 | 999(1.5GB) |
| Weekly | |||||
| 50-100MB | 2,500(75MB) | 2,500(50MB) 3,000(100MB) | 2,500(80MB) | 2,000(100MB) | 4,999(2GB) |
| Monthly | |||||
| 2-3GB | 50,000(2GB) | 75,000(3GB) | 75,000(3GB) | 65,000(3GB) | 9,999(2GB) |
| 10GB | 125,000 | 125,000 | 150,000 | 115,000 | |
Smart is offering a whopping 1.5GB daily for about UGX 1,000 compared to only 50MB for almost the same price from other networks. That’s a big margin.
Now look at the monthly packages. Smart Telecom Uganda is offering 2GB for only about UGX 10,000 while for the same price and data, Orange Uganda is
charging UGX 50,000! MTN, UTL, Airtel Uganda are still charging a little more for an extra 1GB of data but still not close to what Smart is giving. We did a more comprehensive comparison between telecoms with the exception of Smart Telecom where Uganda Telecom came out as the cheapest data service provider. However, as we have always stated, price should never be the ultimate factor in choosing the right provider for you. You also have to consider coverage, customer care, speeds (very important), reliability among other things.
History has showed that this kind of cut-throat service price cuts relative to the competition is not sustainable. Warid Uganda eventually sold out to Airtel because of its unsustainable pricing strategy.
However, its the subscribers that usually benefit from such market entrants. So enjoy while you still can.
Image: Smart Telecom