Telkom clarifies ‘70% international bandwidth reduction’ claim
Letlape, Telkom’s executive for corporate communications, was quoted as saying "Since the introduction of the Sat3 cable to the market in 2002, international bandwidth prices for South African users reduced by approximately 70%."
Many MyADSL Forum members questioned this statement and asked for a public clarification. Telkom responded to these claims by supplying a run down of their 2002 and new 2006 rates on international leased line circuits.
“International Private Leased Services are point-to-point international connectivity ranging from 64 kbit/s to 155Mbit/s. Four different speeds are used to calculate the reduction to date,” Telkom said.
The international bandwidth retail rate reductions ranged between 32% and 54% when one directly compares the 2002 and 2006 rates. The average reduction over this period according to Telkom’s feedback is 44.4%.
When the 2002 retail rate is compared with the new wholesale rate effective 1 April 2006, the reduction in price ranges between 59% and 64% with an average reduction of 62.5%.
When one however compares the 2002 retail rate with the new 2006 wholesale rates based on a 5 year term the reduction ranges between 68% and 71%, with an average reduction of 69%.
“All of these reductions were passed on through to the customers, however the wholesale rates are only applicable to wholesale customers,” Telkom said.
“Please note that, as indicated above, there were different percentage reductions of up to 70% for different bandwidths as well as across retail and wholesale customers since 2002,” they continued.
Here are the comparative costs and reductions supplied by Telkom on their International Private Leased Services.
Telkom further confirmed that they are planning a reduction in price for their ADSL services, but could not supply any details at this stage.
“Some reductions are planned but we cannot as yet indicate when or how much,” Telkom said.
International Private Leased Services Pricing and Reductions as supplied by Telkom.
Retail Year 2002 compared with current Retail (2006) rates
|
Bandwidth
|
Period
|
Reduction
|
|
|
2002
|
2006 *
|
||
|
64 kbps
|
R 18,300
|
R 8,477
|
53.68%
|
|
1984 kbps
|
R 217,560
|
R 97,239
|
55.30%
|
|
34 Mbps
|
R 2,134,500
|
R 1,448,872
|
32.12%
|
|
155 Mbps
|
R 6,111,846
|
R 3,881,265
|
36.50%
|
* No discounts applied.
Retail Year 2002 compared with Wholesale rates (w.e.f. 1 April 2006)
|
Bandwidth
|
Period
|
Reduction
|
|
|
2002
|
2006 **
|
||
|
64 kbps
|
R 18,300
|
R 5,791
|
68.36%
|
|
1984 kbps
|
R 217,560
|
R 66,424
|
69.47%
|
|
34 Mbps
|
R 2,134,500
|
R 714,801
|
66.51%
|
|
155 Mbps
|
R 6,111,846
|
R 1,796,987
|
70.60%
|
** Rates based on a 5-year term discount.
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