Vodacom ups contract pricing

Vodacom has hiked contract prices in the wake of an ongoing prepaid price war between SA's mobile operators.

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In what comes as a change amid an ongoing price war that has seen prices steadily dropping, Vodacom has announced it will be increasing the subscription fees on selected contract price plans as of 1 May.

Increases apply to Vodacom Smart, uChoose Smart, uChoose Flexi, Top Up and Mobile Broadband packages.

Vodacom says the price changes are applicable to existing Vodacom customers on these price plans as well as new customers.

In a statement justifying the price hikes, Vodacom says: "The average effective price of both voice and data on Vodacom's network is down by around 50% over the last two years. This kind of deflation is unprecedented when compared to other daily expenditure items such as food and electricity. It also contrasts sharply with the massive increase in investment going into our network, with almost R30 billion spent over the past four years.

"On top of this, mobile termination rate cuts have had a major impact on our revenue, and costs meanwhile have increased due to among other things electricity supply issues. Given the squeeze from both sides, we have had to review our tariff structures in tandem with implementing cost reduction programmes within the company.

"Our expectation is that the average effective price per unit of both voice and data will continue to come down, making services more accessible, but that as individual customers consume more voice and data that their overall spend will either be flat or increase."

Vodacom rival MTN has in the past been criticised for not reacting to competitors' moves in reducing pricing and creating a more competitive telecoms landscape.

However, up to now, most of the moves that have been made to reduce prices have been in the prepaid arena, and largely pertaining to voice.

Analysts have called data the new price frontier war.

Below are details of Vodacom's contract pricing changes:

*SIM ONLY rates not applicable