Telkom’s ADSL prices benchmarked

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently unveiled their latest broadband statistics which shed light on global broadband pricing, penetration rates and technology trends.

As part of its research the OECD compared the broadband prices of its member countries. This research looked at both prices which include a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) line to subscribe to DSL, and prices which do not include PSTN line.

In South Africa there is forced bundling of PSTN lines with all ADSL services, and this comparison is therefore the most relevant when comparing Telkom’s pricing with international offerings.

While South Africa is not part of the OECD, MyBroadband included Telkom’s ADSL pricing in the OECD data to see how we stack up against international trends.

When looking at total ADSL costs, which includes a PSTN line, ADSL access and data, local prices do not compare well with the OECD averages.

South Africa has the highest entry level cost for a broadband service, and while it fares better on the high end it should be noted that Telkom’s most expensive service only provides 9GB of data usage compared with uncapped offerings internationally.

Telkom’s peak speed of 10Mbps is also slower than most of the fastest advertised connections offered by the incumbent operators in OECD countries (except Mexico and Chile), with speeds ranging between 10Mbps and 1Gbps.

The following graph shows the broadband subscription price ranges for OECD countries.

Broadband Prices (Source: OECD)

When it comes to price per Mbps, South Africa’s ADSL prices are equally poor as shown in the graph below.

Per-Mbps Broadband Prices (USD, Source: OECD)

The OECD’s statistics show the same trend as the highlighted in Ookla’s House Value Index where South Africa was ranked last in terms of overall broadband value.

South Africa ranks last (number 62 out of 62 countries) in Ookla’s broadband value list with an average price of $39.20 (R262) per Mbps – significantly higher than the international average of $9.77 (R65) per Mbps.