Paul Jacobson

MTN is feeling a little backward lately

MTN is feeling a little backward lately. The outages on the network (which may or may not be Telkom’s fault) are just part of the mix. It also seems that Vodacom has managed to snag all the cool devices that are heading this way. One good example is the iPhone 3G which Vodacom secured the right to distribute when it came out last year. This morning I read that Vodacom is the network you need to go through to access Facebook Mobile.

Vodacom-Facebook sms.png

Ok, this isn’t exactly the death knell for MTN but it is another indicator Vodacom is the network for the cool new gadgets and better access to social services on the Web. This may be due to Vodafone’s stake in Vodacom (Simon Dingle or Duncan McLeod can better speak to those things than me) but whatever the enabling mechanism, all I get from MTN is offers of crappy phones when I am due to upgrade and an average service.

I think I am due for an upgrade soon and I am starting to think about moving across to Vodacom. The one thing that holds me back is that I have been told that MTN has a lower subscriber density (or whatever the term is) and I believe MTN is currently building trenches and building capacity. If only I could get better than EDGE connectivity in my house …

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4 responses to “MTN is feeling a little backward lately”

  1. Minnaar Pieters avatar
    Minnaar Pieters

    Yeah, the fact that Vodacom is managing to snap up the exclusive deals to many top phones is a serious plus point. When MTN announced they will be getting the G1, Vodacom mentions a week later that they have the G2, which is not a year old product.

    While I believe Vodacom has slightly higher prices, I do like their better service and more reliable connectivity.

    Reply
  2. Mpieters avatar
    Mpieters

    Yeah, the fact that Vodacom is managing to snap up the exclusive deals to many top phones is a serious plus point. When MTN announced they will be getting the G1, Vodacom mentions a week later that they have the G2, which is not a year old product.

    While I believe Vodacom has slightly higher prices, I do like their better service and more reliable connectivity.

    Reply
  3. JBagley avatar
    JBagley

    MTN are currently in a discussion with one of India’s telecoms providers, which would make them the 3rd biggest network in the world after China Telecom and Vodafone.

    So maybe not that backwards. 🙂

    Reply
  4. JBagley avatar
    JBagley

    MTN are currently in a discussion with one of India’s telecoms providers, which would make them the 3rd biggest network in the world after China Telecom and Vodafone.

    So maybe not that backwards. 🙂

    Reply

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