By Alinaswe Sichamba

Zamtel has now come back to become the best provider of capped and unlimited internet in Zambia

For the past year, Zamtel was surpassed by Vodafone mainly due to the fact that they phased out the unlimited tariffs plan and reduced speeds To 512KB/S. The reduction in the speeds according to a Zamtel staff was mainly due to the unreliable backup backbone in Tanzania. There were network interruption from their partner Source in South Africa.

This article will look at the cheapest internet provider in Zambia, the Fastest Network, Best unlimited providers and the best support among the internet providers in Zambia.

I am also not going to consider, internet that is capped after reaching threshold as unlimited internet.

PS: Note that this list below is not ordered according to ranking.

1. ZAMTEL

Zamtel is by far the best broadband internet provider offering unlimited broadband internet up 10 megabytes per second 10MB/S. It had been surpassed by Vodafone the past year but have recently come back to command the kingship in the ISP industry.

They are now offering unlimited internet at 1MB/s at K990, and the highest speed they are offering is 19MB/S at K5, 200 surpassing all other providers in terms of speed and affordability.  When I say unlimited I  mean without restrictions, uncapped, browsing as much as you want.  I am very skeptical about internet providers but I must say am impressed with this development.

2. ZAMNET

You must note that there is a difference between Zamtel and Zamnet although they both start with the acronym ZAM.  Zamnet was for some time the best internet provider up until around 2013s. In terms of speed, they were offering unlimited/uncapped internet at speed of 2MB/s for only  about K 370. They also had other advantages such as flexibility in their internet installation.

Their radio equipment could be installed almost anywhere in towns and cities of their network coverage. Unlike Zamtel which was only limited to places of their wire lines and poles.

As of now Zamnet internet prices have been hiked with a 400KB/s costing at about K1, 200 per month. Despite all these their internet is uncapped, meaning you can use all you can without restrictions or reduction in the speed after reaching a certain threshold.

3. MTN Broadband

MTN internet has for some time been known to be one of the fastest on the market  but expensive. They don’t offer unlimited plans. The highest plan they offer is a 40 GB which costs K840 kwacha and valid for K30.

They are very clever, they advertise their internet as unlimited but when a threshold of 40GB  is reached they significantly reduce the speed such that is will take you 5 minutes to open a yahoo Mail page. One of the advantages of MTN Internet however is the mobility.

Their 4G modem can be carried in almost every remotest area in Zambia provided there is MTN network, this mean you can carry  your  MTN 4G modem when you are going camping.

Since their highest bundle is capped at 40GB then what is the point of having this plan? You will be forced to buy another 40GB bundle once your 40GH depletes or any other bundle and that will just be an  extra cost.

I won’t write about their internet speed because at the time I am writing this article their internet speed has been taken off their official Zambian website. But see a table below which indicates the only internet tariffs they offer.

See table below:

MTN BROADBAND

[table id=3 /]
From the table it can be observed that the highest internet provided by MTN is 40 GB for K840 kwacha valid for one  month.

4. Iconnect:

They are also one of the oldest providers of internet in Zambia. They made a name few years back due to their consistent high speed of up to 2MB/s but over  the past couple of years, they are slowly loosing grip and many people probably don’t know who they  are.

They are one of the most expensive internet providers in Zambia. Their 20-GB office bundle costing as much as K890.  However their office unlimited plan costs K1, 999. Still expnsive um?

The Good part about Iconnect is their honesty, when they say unlimited it is without restriction and their support staff  is superfast. When you call them now for an internet connection, you will have a working internet connection in a day or two at most provided your place is in their range of coverage.

See the table below with prices for their office internet plans.
[table id=4 /]

• VODAFONE BROADBAND

The last but not the least on the top 5 internet Providers is Vodafone Broadband. They are fast and their high speed 4G internet is consistent. But one Sad truth about Vodafone is, they Are very expensive and remain to be one of the most expensive amongst internet providers in Zambia.

Not only that, they also don’t provide unlimited plans. So if your business depends on internet I suggest you them compare with other providers. Their 10-GB bundle costs K265 whilst their 400 GB costs K7, 299.  All in all their customer care is great; they are fast in responding to queries or issues.

See a brief summary of their tariff’s plan in this table below.
[table id=5 /]

Comparison Cost Table For All 5 Major Internet Providers in Zambia

[table id=7 /]

In conclusion all ISPs in Zambia have both advantages and disadvantage But by putting all the information together, it evident that Zamtel is a better choice for broadband internet on the local market in terms of speed and affordability.

Although their customer care have not been the best, they are improving every day and through my experience they will respond to any problem at your door step within 24 working hours whereas the unlimited internet offered by Zambtel  at K990, Vodafone is selling a 30-day valid 400-GB  at K7, 299 and 50 GB bundle costing K1, 799 at Iconnect, you can get it at K600 kwacha from Zamtel.

If you are an ISP and you think some information I have written is incorrect for some reason please contact me at [email protected] or send an email to [email protected] with reference to Alinaswe Sichamba and I will be happy to update this information

Disclaimer: The content of this article are solely the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this website.