MTN Subscribers In South Africa Hit By Huge Bills From MTN Uncapped Data Plan

MTN Subscribers In South Africa Hit By Huge Bills From MTN Uncapped Data Plan

Ignorance is never a defense, and some MTN subscribers are learning this the painful way. The fine prints under Terms & Conditions apply should be read before using any given product or service.

MTN has gifted its subscribers the MTN Uncapped Data mobile Internet package. The ‘Terms & Conditions’ of which, users get 1 Day uncapped Internet bundles of up to 150MB. Should a customer exceed that limit, their Internet connection gets throttled, to a reduced speed of 128kbps.

However, get this, MTN subscribers MUST activate the MTN 1 Day bundle after purchasing the data by dialing *141*5# on their phone.

So some South Africans obviously overjoyed with the prospects of having unlimited Internet connection purchased data for the MTN Uncapped Data plan. However, some subscribers failed to read the fine prints under the ‘Terms & Conditions’ requiring them to activate the MTN 1 Day bundles.

In effect, they were using MTN mobile data in a truly uncapped and unthrottled fashion. After they had exhausted the initial 150MB, they were on a pay-as-you-go plan.

One particular MTN subscribers wrote a complaint to the telecom over his R2,000 ($131.4) bill for data consumed after his uncapped daily data bundle was exhausted.

Looks like this fella needs to understand some legal lingo, and ignorance is never a defense. As per the MTN’s website, the 1 Day Uncapped Data gives subscribers “uncapped data, subject to the fair use policy, valid for 1 Day from the time it is purchased.”

That means you get uncapped Internet connection for the first 150MB usage. When you exhaust the 150MB data, your Internet speeds gets throttled (reduced) down to 128kbps. But you must first activate the 1 Day bundles by dialing *141*5# for the telecom to start capping their connection after the initial 150MB usage. Otherwise, MTN will continue allowing you high-speed connection but on a pay-as-you-go plan; a data plan that is often charged at much higher rate.

Other legal mumbo jumbo MTN subscribers should be aware of, includes that the telecom reserves the right to take any necessary measure to “prevent the improper, excessive, or abusive use of the MTN 1 Day Uncapped Internet Bundle.” That is in regards to the fair use policy.

MTN could take several actions including but not limited to suspending or deactivating the subscriber’s MTN 1 Day bundle plan. Where the telecom deems the usage to be fraudulent and/or contravenes the law.

The telecom also reserves the right to execute other measures and controls to “ensure that the integrity of its systems is maintained”, such as deep packet inspection among others.

Customers give MTN the right to monitor aspects including, but not limited to, non-compliance with its Fair Use Policy and restricted protocols.”

In layman’s language, MTN reserves the right to throttle users’ connections, including peer-to-peer traffic, prioritize and filter certain user activities like VoIP traffic over other activities.

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