Telkom Waya-Waya confusion

In August 2007 Telkom launched their PrepaidFone Waya-Waya service which significantly lowered the barrier of entry for new fixed lines customers.

At the time the Waya Waya service cost R250 which bought line installation, one year’s rental (R120.00), R10 airtime and a telephone instrument. Since then the price increased to R283 while the yearly rental price jumped top R140.

Telkom seems to have quietly discontinued the service, and has not replaced it with a comparable prepaid offering. The Telkom help desk and Telkom website both stated clearly that the service was not available any longer.

According to a Telkom help desk agent the company stopped offering the service in August 2011, and they are still waiting for a replacement – if there will indeed be a replacement. The Telkom website also carried this notice related to the Waya Waya service: “No longer provide w.e.f 1 Aug 2011”.

The Telkom help desk agent said that instead of the low installation and yearly Waya Waya price, new prepaid customers will now have to pay Telkom R300 for installation and R72 per month for service rental.

The first years’ total cost of R1,164 for a new prepaid service from Telkom is far higher than the Waya Waya cost of R283. The yearly rental cost for a prepaid service of R864 is also much higher than the Waya Waya annual rental cost of R140.

Telkom’s help desk said that existing Waya Waya subscribers is that they will continue to enjoy a yearly rental fee of R140 instead of the much higher standard prepaid rates.

Telkom Waya Waya

When Telkom was however contacted for official comment about their discontinuation of their PrepaidFone Waya-Waya service, the company said that no such decision was made.

The company’s PrepaidFone Waya-Waya product manager indicated that the service was still available, and that they are perplexed as to why the Telkom website and Telkom help desk would state otherwise.

After MyBroadband’s media query the “No longer provide w.e.f 1 Aug 2011” notice related to Telkom’s PrepaidFone Waya-Waya service was removed from the Telkom website.

Telkom’s help desk however still informed potential customers that the Waya Waya service was discontinued on 1 August and that they could therefore not apply for the service.