Telkom uncapped price cuts: ISPs respond

ADSL service providers are relooking their prices and product ranges after Telkom surprised the market with aggressive uncapped ADSL price cuts.

Telkom announced on 24 January 2013 that it will reduce its consumer uncapped ADSL products by up to 40% on 1 February 2013. These price cuts will apply to both standalone and bundled ADSL products.

Telkom’s new uncapped ADSL prices undercut most existing offers in the market, putting pressure on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to follow suit.

Many consumers indicated that Telkom’s new uncapped prices will make them relook their service provider.

“This is actually brilliant! Yes, we all want naked ADSL but this can only be good for all of us as we will save. ISP’s have to respond to this somehow,” said one commentator. “Sheesh those [prices] aren’t bad. Might move,” said another.

ADSL ISPs respond

Derek Hershaw – MWEB ISP CEO

MWEB ISP CEO Derek Hershaw said that they are currently assessing Telkom’s new products, including the performance of these products, which will guide their pricing decision.

Openweb CEO Keoma Wright said that they are currently working on improved pricing which will be released soon.

Axxess marketing director Franco Barbalich said that they will definitely be playing around with pricing and packaging.

“We will make sure we are competitive, without compromising on quality and the clients’ experience,” said Barbalich.

Gian Visser – Afrihost CEO

Afrihost CEO Gian Visser said that their current prices are “already in line with or better than Telkom’s new prices (and have been at these levels since May last year)”.

However, Visser added that they are always reviewing the value of their products to ensure that their clients get the most bang for their buck.

“The Telkom price cut is now obviously another factor we will look at when ensuring that our client’s get the absolute best value for their money,” said Visser.

Tim Wyatt-Gunning – Web Africa CEO

Web Africa CEO Tim Wyatt-Gunning said that they are currently crunching the numbers, and will only be able to comment on pricing at a later stage.

Cybersmart CEO Laurie Fialkov said that they made the mistake once before of not reacting to price changes in the market. “We will never make that mistake again,” said Fialkov.

“We have always positioned ourselves to be the ISP with the best value offering in South Africa. For this reason we have a price guarantee on or website where we will match any competitive price.”

Fialkov said that it goes without saying that they will at the very least match the Telkom prices and where possible try to beat them.

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