Telkom ADSL IPC price cuts on the cards?
Over the last few months the local ADSL retail market saw the launch of numerous innovative, affordable ADSL products. One of the main reasons for the new services and lower prices is Telkom’s IP Connect (IPC) wholesale ADSL product which allows service providers to develop their own ADSL retail services.
Some of the ISPs, which make use of Telkom’s IPC product, include Internet Solutions, Cybersmart, G-Connect and IPINX (which supplies Sainet with services), and it is unsurprising to see offerings like split-billing services, cheaper uncapped ADSL accounts and higher after-hour usage offerings infiltrating the SA market en mass.
Telkom recently announced that it will strengthen its wholesale ADSL product offerings with the addition of its IP Stream product, offering service providers the freedom to terminate and manage their own PPPOE ADSL sessions.
The new ADSL IP Stream wholesale product – which is similar to IPC but provides a layer 2 tunnel – has various benefits to ADSL service providers, including allowing ISPs to easily assign static IP addresses to their subscribers, controlling session timeouts and more freedom with service creation and design.
Rumours have now surfaced that Telkom is planning to cut the price of its IPC service, something which will allow service providers to further reduce their retail rates. There is further speculation that the price reductions will be volume breaks for high capacity IPC customers, something which will directly benefit players like Internet Solutions and Cybersmart.
Telkom would however not confirm or deny these rumours. Ajith Bridgraj, Telkom’s Senior Specialist for media relations, merely said that the company does not respond to speculation.
Bridgraj did however give a hint that something may be on the cards: “Telkom reviews its pricing from time to time and, where appropriate, communicates directly with the affected customer”.
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