We’re still a couple of weeks away from the chaotic last Friday of the month that is the infamous Black Friday. To Vodacom, that doesn’t matter. It’s getting the ball rolling a little earlier on what it likes to call ‘Black November’, with deals up to 75% across the provider’s range of wireless internet packages, game consoles, and more.
You won’t need to wait until Friday before you can start filling up your cart, either. Vodacom is kindly inviting customers to start spending their money earlier than most, with deals kicking off today, 7 November, and running until Wednesday, 6 December. Vodacom’s excuse for the earliness, obviously, has to do with its mission to make more money connectivity more accessible in South Africa.
“At Vodacom, we understand the challenges South Africans are facing as result of the high cost of living, loadshedding and traditional end-of-year stresses. Our Black November discounted deals are a testament to our commitment to fulfilling the connectivity needs of our customers while alleviating their financial strain and making a difference in their everyday lives,” says Rashid Tar Mahomed, Managing Executive of Products and Services at Vodacom South Africa.
Fixed Internet of all Things
Let’s start things off with those wireless internet packages, shall we? This week, Vodacom’s laid out three fixed Home and Business Internet packages and they’re something… special. If you’re looking for Home Internet, you have three choices of speed: 30, 50, and 100Mbps.
They’ll cost you R300/m, R400/m and R500/m respectively. The catch? You’re locked into a 36-month contract, and have to put up with the 600GB, 1TB, and 2TB caps for the different packages. It’s not all bad news; Vodacom’s throwing in a HUAWEI B535-932 Router to make everything okay again.
Flip things over to the Business side, and you’ll see similar traits. Too-long contracts, data caps, and generally slower speeds for the same price. Specifically, Vodacom’s got three deals to choose from, involving two LTE packages – 10Mbps and 20Mbps – joined by the ‘Business Internet Wireless Premium package that has no cap, and will cost you R550/m over 36 months.
The remaining LTE packages aren’t so rude as to lock you into 36-month deals, though they’ll still knock off 24 months’ worth of your time and money. Choosing the 10Mbps option means you’ll be paying R300/m, while the 20Mbps package sucks up R400 from your wallet every month. Going with option one will land you a 200GB cap, with the R400/m choice doubling that figure.
Bang for your Bucks
And if you’re one of the few people who use airtime, if you buy through VodaPay throughout November, you can expect to see 30% more airtime than you initially paid for. Who knows? Maybe next year will be the year we finally see some half-decent data deals. Just a thought.
One of the better offers on the table is Vodacom’s RED VIP 40GB plan that’s currently 44% off, theoretically saving you R25,200 if you did decide to pick it up. Unfortunately, the deal isn’t currently listed on Vodacom’s website, with no mention of when it might be available for purchase.
Vodacom’s deals aren’t all focused on intangible offerings that could be bettered elsewhere, it’s got a couple (ok, a lot) of gadgets too. Probably the best of the lot is a deal that’ll net you a Xiaomi Redmi Note 12, 600MB Anytime Data, 600MB Night Owl Data, 150 SMSes, and 50 minutes for R230/m on a 36-month contract. Pay R40/m more, and you’ll get an Oppo A78 5G with all the same bells and whistles.
Read More: Vodacom, Eskom’s virtual wheeling power generation pilot could see a broad launch by the end of 2024
If you’re looking for something higher-end, Vodacom’s got Huawei’s P60 Pro or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 to choose from, for R750/m or R800/m respectively through RED Core. Each deal brings with them 1.2GB of Anytime Data, 1.2GB of Night Owl Data, 150 SMSes, and 100 minutes of call time.
In what we can only assume is a ploy to drum up excitement, Vodacom’s given us a sneak preview of the Prepaid LTE starter pack deal, which will only appear as a “limited time offer only” later this month, costing R400 and comes bundled with a ZTE MiFi Router with 100GB of data. It didn’t say when the deal would go live, but that it would only be applicable “while stocks last.”
Other devices include a Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (+ Galaxy Watch 6), PS5 Digital Edition, and Xbox Series S/X alongside power stations, wearables, and more. You can see Vodacom’s entire Black Friday catalogue that’ll be live for the next week here.