Telkom ADSL users coughing up
Recent statistics indicate that the average price in Europe for a 1 megabit per second connection, a fairly standard package, is 37 euros or R 268-00 per month.
South Africans are paying R929-00 per month for an inferior, shaped 1 Mbps connection.
The price difference is staggering with South Africans paying over three times as much as the European user.
A more accurate comparison is to examine local products which are similar to the offerings in Europe.
In South Africa high-cap unshaped ADSL services will cost users R 3940-40, a similar shaped product will cost R 2526-80. These figures are 1470% and 943% higher than what one will pay in Europe.
Even when comparing Telkom’s far inferior standard 1 Mbps ADSL offering, which provides users with 3 GB of shaped bandwidth at R 929-00 per month, the price gap is still overwhelming at 347% more expensive than the European average.
The bad news is that this trend looks set to remain.
European prices for broadband continue to drop and this past year saw on average a 47% decrease for the price of a 1 Mbps connection in Europe.
The price for Telkom’s 1 Mbps ADSL service has not decreased at all since its launch in September last year.
Surprisingly the cheapest services are not to be found in the UK, Germany, France or the Netherlands, but rather in Lithuania where the average monthly cost for a 1 Mbps connection is only 14 euros which is just over R 100-00.
The reason for the price reductions over the last year is mainly due to increased competition in the broadband arena.
Sadly, without true competition in the South African fixed line arena the price of ADSL is unlikely to fall in line with international standards anytime soon.
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