As demand for data services in the country is growing, competition amongst broadband providers has intensified, which is good for the consumer as prices are being reduced.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks internet facilitators have slashed the prices on broadband offerings – some quite aggressively.<\/p>\n
Telkom<\/a> decreased its Faster DLS monthly rental fee by 11.3%, its mobile network 8-ta<\/a> shook the market with the introduction of the cheapest data offering on the country – 10GB of data a month for R199 offer \u2013and MTN<\/a> announced that it was dropping uncapped broadband rates on two of its packages.<\/p>\n With South Africa having one of the highest internet costs in the world, it’s not surprising that the price of internet connectivity is slowly falling to a favourable rate, says Joel Bloomer, head of research and a director at First Avenue Investment Management.<\/p>\n “Data costs in South Africa versus that in other countries are still very high\u2026South Africa is still catching up with development markets, hence the telecoms companies have begun to focus their strategy on data growth.”<\/p>\n With the variety of options that consumers have when it comes to data packages, some might wonder if Vodacom<\/a> will announce a drop in broadband tariffs.<\/p>\n “Well, I can’t pre-empt a price cut or new offering, but Vodacom has consistently brought down prices. We will continue to work to focus on finding ways for customer to save,” said the operator’s executive head of media relations, Richard Boorman<\/a>.<\/p>\n