Cell C announces price hikes

Cell C has notified its contract customers that most of their subscription fees will increase from 1 December 2022.

The price hikes will affect all postpaid customers, including those in the middle of their contract periods.

Cell C’s postpaid subscribers all roam on Vodacom’s network, even though it has an extensive national roaming agreement with MTN that gives it access to MTN’s 3G and 4G radio networks.

It migrated its contract subscribers to Vodacom’s network between December 2020 and February 2021.

“We have not effected any increases to our pricing since 2019 in our quest to ease some of the hardships of the past few years, exacerbated further by the global pandemic that brought along its own set of challenges,” chief commercial officer Simo Mkhize wrote in a letter to affected subscribers.

“However, sustained inflationary pressures and rising input costs have meant price adjustments have become a necessity.”

Mkhize said the exact date subscribers’ price increases kick in depends on their billing cycles.

Percentage increases vary according to package, he added.

“Every effort has been made to keep the price increase as low as possible,” said Mkhize.

Most of the price increases are between 5% and 6%, with some as high as 12.7% and one legacy package getting a 20% hike.

The letter contains fine print stating that Cell C’s subscriber agreement terms and conditions apply.

“Customers that have deal packages will need to apply the percentage increase to their current bill amount and not the standard tariff price,” it states.

In an FAQ section attached to the letter, Cell C explains further.

“In cases where you have subscribed to deal pricing, which may include a device, value added services, and/or discounts; your bill amount may vary from the pricing reflected herein,” it said.

“Your bill amount will be adjusted by the same effective percentage increase applied to the standard tariff plan.”

MyBroadband asked Cell C whether affected subscribers would be allowed to cancel without penalty, but it did not answer our question by the time of publication.

Cell C contract and top-up price hikes — 1 December 2022

The table below summarises the price increase for all Cell C’s current contract packages.

Cell C legacy contract and top-up price plan increases on 1 December 2022

The table below summarises the price increases for products that Cell C no longer sells.

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