High inflation and South Africa’s battling economy have resulted in Telkom upping the pricing of its products.
In a statement, the company says: “In efforts to continually maintain quality service and deliver relevant offerings to our valued consumer and small enterprise customers, Telkom SA has announced price increases for the mobile, DSL and voice portfolios, effective 1 April, and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) products, effective 1 May.
The price hike comes after Telkom recently announced it is looking to retrench 15% of its entire workforce in a move aimed at curtailing costs.
Says Telkom: “With an inflation rate sitting at a record 13-year high, price increases are necessary and unavoidable to ensure long-term business sustainability.
“Like many other South African companies and enterprises, Telkom has been impacted by the pressures driven by prevailing macro-economic dynamics.”
MultiChoice also recently hiked prices for its DStv products.
The fee increases come as most South Africans are financially-constrained amid a gloomy economic outlook. Load-shedding has exacerbated the situation, with businesses struggling to perform optimally.
South Africa's annual inflation rate fell slightly in January, to 6.9% from 7.2% the previous month, but food prices continued to rise, statistics agency StatsSA recently revealed.
According to Telkom, the imminent price increases across fixed voice, ADSL, FTTH and mobile offerings “will ensure continued quality service to Telkom’s customers, including small and medium businesses, whilst maintaining competitiveness”.
Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer and Small Business, says: “We understand price increases are never easy, and we want to assure our customers that we have done everything possible to minimise the impact on them.
“The country’s economic challenges, including rising inflation, have made it necessary for Telkom to adjust prices to maintain the high level of service our customers have come to expect. The price increase also comes with continued improvement of our products, even in challenging times.”
Telkom notes DSL and voice will see an overall average increase of 8.4%, whereas the Yep! portfolio product will implement a 7% average increase following a three-year price freeze.
Fixed voice prices will increase by an average of 8.8%, encompassing all products related to line rental and calling plan tariffs.
An 8% average price increase will be implemented across all DSL products, including expired and active bundles, Do Bundles (Soft Cap), Unlimited Home Lite Bundles, Home Unlimited Premium Bundles and DSL access-only services, the telco adds.
FTTH products will increase by an average of 11% overall, it notes, pointing out this is mainly due to an increase in fees by the company’s wholesale network operator.
“However, this increase in rates will be combined with an increase in speeds across the board. Consumers will therefore be getting more value with the increased prices,” Telkom says.
For mobile customers, it adds, certain prices will increase on average by 5% in monthly subscription costs; however, these increases only impact mobile customers subscribing to products within the SmartBroadband Data Portfolio.
There will be an increase in several data bundles and out of bundle rates for mobile voice, SMS, and data services, which will result in an increase on most tariffs, says the firm.
Voice rates for out of bundle consumption will increase from R0.75 to R0.80 per minute and data rates will increase from R0.32 to R0.35 per MB of data, on most plans.
“As we continue to invest in our operations, technology and people to ensure we remain a reliable partner in connectivity for our customers during challenging times, Telkom remains committed to providing exceptional service and value, and we thank our customers for their continued support as we navigate this difficult economic period,” Siyo concludes.
Share