Having recently returned from an amazing two week vacation in Namibia, I thought it good to update everyone on the state on 3G and WiFi access in Namibia.
While in Namibia I decided to thoroughly test the local networks and made use of both MTC and Cellone.
What I noticed from only a few days in the country is that the cellular rates are much much better than the local South Africa cellular providers! MTC for instance offers 100 free SMS’s a day while Cellone charges only 5c per SMS. Calls were also much cheaper with Cellone offering calls at only 49c per minute between Cellone customers.
The second thing I noticed that actually impressed me was that Namibia had 3G coverage in almost every town we passed through. MTC being the stronger network had the most 3G coverage with Cellone only having 3G in a few towns. On a positive note Cellone had GPRS coverage in some of the locations where MTC had nothing.
Another thing that impressed me about Namibia was the WiFi access. After searching and searching for good WiFi I finally found out that telecom Namibia offered a service called wi-space. All you do is purchase a wi-space voucher and then wherever you see the wi-space logo (more than 40 locations in Namibia) you can tune in for Wi-Fi access. The WiFi is sold at a rate of R20.00 for 45min usage.
Alternatively good WiFi access was also available at the Protea Hotel in Walvis Bay and a few other accommodation venue’s across the country.
Below are a few tips for fringsters planning to visit Namibia.
- When in Namibia switch to either MTC or Cellone. Pre-paid simcards are relatively cheap (R30.00 and come with a few rands airtime). International data roaming rates are extremely high. Both MTC and Cellone charge only R1.00 per MB for data.
- If your handset has the ability to switch dual mode off then do it. I found the network constantly switched between 3G and GPRS which caused issues when making calls. To switch dual mode on or off click > Menu > Tools > Settings > Network > Switch dual mode off. Don’t forget to switch it on again when you are not in 3G coverage.
- Having a car charger handy is always a good idea and in Namibia, this is a must! If you get stuck on the open road somewhere, you will die, so always have enough water with you, 10L is enough and make sure your cellphone battery is always full? The network coverage on most roads is very poor so be prepared to walk for coverage if you get stuck.
- Always stick to the main tar roads, unless you drive in convoy. The main tar roads are usually quite busy, however the dusty back roads are very quiet. On one of the days we traveled 400km and only saw 3 cars the entire day. At times this can be nerv recking (especially when the trust fringmobile gets stuck and you have no back up car.. oops
- Very important, please make sure that whatever you do, you do it safely.
All in all Namibia is a great country with even better 3G access.
Tags: 3G, Cellone, fring, MTC, Namibia, South Africa, Walvis Bay, WiFi, Windhoek
