hey there,
I am going to do a spell at KCMC hospital in Moshi. I will bring a laptop and probably a tablet, so I am looking for mobile internet options that are available. I hear there's some coverage via cellular in eastern Africa. Can anyone recommend a particular provider/service or give me some general info about mobile internet in the region? I will be staying for a couple of months.
thanks so much!
brokaaa
Dear Brokaa,
It is true that there is mobile/ cellular internet in east Africa. The network coverage depends on locations. For KCMC YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE EITHER VODACOM OR AIRTEL. You can also connect the internet to your computer using hotspot from your phone( I am using I phone). That is the easiest and good option I think ? But you can choose to buy a modem from either airtel/ vodacom providers.
If you will also like to learn Swahili language( Kiswahili) you can contact swahili classes in Moshi via their email swahiliclasses6@gmail.com.
Thank you.
hey renney,
thank you for your information. Can you tell me approximately how much it will cost me to have some kind of basic internet connection? How do I sign up, can I just walk into a local shop there? What is the cost of lets say 100mb of internet traffic via cellular there? And is it fast enough for Skype for example?
thanks so much for all your help!
brokaaa
Vodacom has a new mobile hotspot, costing 125,000 TSh. With it you can use tablet and notebook. Vodacom ahs bundles, for instance one week unlimited access is for 7,000 TSh. The hotspot you get in a Vodacom shop, the SIM you get almost everywhere, also the vouchers. But also you can use your smart phone as hotspot. Airtel has the problem, that it is now so overused, that even with HSDPA the rate drops down significantly. For Skype or Whatsapp phone calls it is sometimes okay, but not always.
Johannes
Dear Brokaa,
It's very easy to get internet connection in Moshi. For a month connection( unlimited) is 25,000 Tsh which is like 13 USD OR 7000 Tshilings which is like 4 USD a week.
You can walk to any vodacom shop( which I highly recommend) to have the sim card.
I do have friends in moshi so if you think you will need help let me know I will contact them.
thank you both for your advice. I will probably get a vodacom sim card and put it into my phone then, using it as my hotspot. A couple of bucks per month sounds pretty good.
edit: I checked the vodacom website where it indeed says they will sell you "unlimited" internet access for a month for 25.000 Tsh...however, surely, this can not mean unlimited high speed (3G or 4G) access?! The website does not specify a particular limit for high speed traffic, though...so, how does this work? At which point do they typically cut you to lower speeds?
The unlimited access is for 3G speed, they have a limit of 700 mb a day there after it turns to low speed. So I assume for a month payment they will offer you 21000 mb with high speed and thereafter
( 21000mb) you will continue using until the month is over but with a low speed.
Tigo will be launching a 4G network in Moshi by sometime in August. That will be a separate network requiring a different SIM card from the regular Tigo SIM and will have different package.
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