{"id":596009,"date":"2025-05-29T11:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T09:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=596009"},"modified":"2025-05-29T11:00:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T09:00:42","slug":"telkom-fibre-price-turnaround","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/fibre\/596009-telkom-fibre-price-turnaround.html","title":{"rendered":"Telkom fibre price turnaround"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Partially state-owned network operator Telkom sells Openserve fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) packages at prices that are highly competitive with many of its rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company had previously been accused of offering unfair pricing on Openserve packages, with competing Internet service providers (ISPs) alleging that they were selling some packages at below cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telkom launched Openserve as a functional separation of its wholesale operations in 2015, before legally separating the company from itself in September 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Openserve is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Telkom Group. However, it operates autonomously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2021, prominent ISPs accused Telkom of offering anti-competitive fibre pricing on Openserve packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, it advertised a 25\/25Mbps Openserve FTTH package at R449 per month, making the product the cheapest on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, it offered a promotion where customers could get the package for R399 per month on a 12-month contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISP executives told MyBroadband the pricing from Telkom is suspect when considering the wholesale costs associated with this product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, Openserve charged a wholesale price of R410 for the package, excluding VAT. With VAT added, the rental cost alone would be R472.50 per month \u2014 R23.50 more than Telkom’s advertised price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fibre network operator (FNO) also charged a Broad Connect wholesale fee for local bandwidth usage on the line, for which it charged R9 per Mbps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it appeared as though Telkom was either making a loss on the 25\/25Mbps FTTH package or that Openserve was offering Telkom the package at reduced rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This resulted in ISPs alleging that Telkom was engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. A prominent fibre ISP executive told MyBroadband at the time that the package’s break-even point was around R483.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new MyBroadband analysis showed that this practice appears to have stopped, with Telkom’s pricing for Openserve packages often being higher than competing ISPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entry-level FTTH price showdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband compared FTTH prices available through Afrihost, Axxess, RSAWeb, Telkom, and Webafrica across prominent FNOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As not all packages offer the same download speeds, we calculated the price per megabit per second (Mbps) for each package to determine which offers the best value for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding various ISPs’ pricing for Openserve packages, Telkom’s pricing compares fairly well to Afrihost, Axxess, RSAWeb, and Webafrica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The asymmetrical Openserve 50Mbps package’s price per Mbps is R13.10 through Telkom, with Axxess and Afrihost offering slightly better pricing of R12.70 and R12.94, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, RSAWeb and Webafrica’s pricing is slightly higher at R13.70 and R13.98 per Mbps, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the FNO’s symmetrical packages, Telkom doesn’t offer the symmetrical Openserve 30Mbps connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Axxess and RSAWeb’s pricing for the package is R16.17 per Mbps, while Afrihost’s is R16.33 per Mbps, and Webafrica’s is R16.63 per Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telkom does offer Openserve’s symmetrical 50Mbps package, and it offers the second-best price per Mbps of the ISPs compared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afrihost’s pricing for the package equates to R14.94 per Mbps, while Telkom’s pricing works out to R15.18 per Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, RSAWeb charges R15.30 per Mbps, Webafrica charges R15.38 per Mbps, and Axxess charges R15.70 per Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tables below compare entry-level FTTH prices from Afrihost, Axxess, RSAWeb, Telkom, and Webafrica across various FNOs regarding the price per Mbps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first table compares asymmetrical FTTH package prices, while the second compares symmetrical packages. The second table is further divided into speed categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asymmetrical FTTH prices<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
ISP<\/strong><\/td>FNO<\/strong><\/td>Download<\/strong><\/td>Upload<\/strong><\/td>Price<\/strong><\/td>Price per Mbps<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Axxess<\/td>Frogfoot<\/td>60Mbps<\/td>30Mbps<\/td>R620<\/td>R10.33<\/td><\/tr>
Afrihost<\/td>Frogfoot<\/td>60Mbps<\/td>30Mbps<\/td>R637<\/td>R10.62<\/td><\/tr>
Webafrica<\/td>Frogfoot<\/td>60Mbps<\/td>30Mbps<\/td>R649<\/td>R10.82<\/td><\/tr>
RSAWeb<\/td>Frogfoot<\/td>60Mbps<\/td>30Mbps<\/td>R655<\/td>R10.92<\/td><\/tr>
Telkom<\/td>Frogfoot<\/td>60Mbps<\/td>30Mbps<\/td>R699<\/td>R11.65<\/td><\/tr>
Axxess<\/strong><\/td>Openserve<\/strong><\/td>50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>25Mbps<\/strong><\/td>R635<\/strong><\/td>R12.70<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Afrihost<\/strong><\/td>Openserve<\/strong><\/td>50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>25Mbps<\/strong><\/td>R647<\/strong><\/td>R12.94<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Telkom<\/strong><\/td>Openserve<\/strong><\/td>50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>25Mbps<\/strong><\/td>R655<\/strong><\/td>R13.10<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Telkom<\/td>Vumatel<\/td>50Mbps<\/td>25Mbps<\/td>R669<\/td>R13.38<\/td><\/tr>
Webafrica<\/td>Vumatel<\/td>50Mbps<\/td>25Mbps<\/td>R679<\/td>R13.58<\/td><\/tr>
RSAWeb<\/strong><\/td>Openserve<\/strong><\/td>50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>25Mbps<\/strong><\/td>R685<\/strong><\/td>R13.70<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
RSAWeb<\/td>Vumatel<\/td>50Mbps<\/td>25Mbps<\/td>R685<\/td>R13.70<\/td><\/tr>
Afrihost<\/td>Vumatel<\/td>50Mbps<\/td>25Mbps<\/td>R687<\/td>R13.74<\/td><\/tr>
Webafrica<\/strong><\/td>Openserve<\/strong><\/td>50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>25Mbps<\/strong><\/td>R699<\/strong><\/td>R13.98<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Axxess<\/td>Vumatel<\/td>50Mbps<\/td>25Mbps<\/td>R699<\/td>R13.98<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Symmetrical FTTH prices<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
20 to 40Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ISP<\/strong><\/td>\nFNO<\/strong><\/td>\nDownload<\/strong><\/td>\nUpload<\/strong><\/td>\nPrice<\/strong><\/td>\nPrice per Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nova<\/td>\n40Mbps<\/td>\n40Mbps<\/td>\nR539<\/td>\nR13.48<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nova<\/td>\n40Mbps<\/td>\n40Mbps<\/td>\nR567<\/td>\nR14.18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nMetroFibre<\/td>\n40Mbps<\/td>\n40Mbps<\/td>\nR615<\/td>\nR15.38<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Axxess<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR485<\/strong><\/td>\nR16.17<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RSAWeb<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR485<\/strong><\/td>\nR16.17<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR490<\/strong><\/td>\nR16.33<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n30Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR499<\/strong><\/td>\nR16.63<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR484<\/td>\nR19.36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR489<\/td>\nR19.56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Axxess<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR489<\/td>\nR19.56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RSAWeb<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR489<\/td>\nR19.56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RSAWeb<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nexus<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR495<\/td>\nR19.80<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nexus<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR517<\/td>\nR20.68<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Axxess<\/td>\nMetroFibre<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR525<\/td>\nR21.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nexus<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR529<\/td>\nR21.16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nMetroFibre<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\n25Mbps<\/td>\nR549<\/td>\nR21.96<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nova<\/td>\n20Mbps<\/td>\n20Mbps<\/td>\nR469<\/td>\nR23.45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nova<\/td>\n20Mbps<\/td>\n20Mbps<\/td>\nR497<\/td>\nR24.85<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nMetroFibre<\/td>\n20Mbps<\/td>\n20Mbps<\/td>\nR515<\/td>\nR25.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
45Mbps to 60Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nova<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\nR619<\/td>\nR10.32<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RSAWeb<\/td>\nFrogfoot<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\nR655<\/td>\nR10.92<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nova<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\nR697<\/td>\nR11.62<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nMetroFibre<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\nR715<\/td>\nR11.92<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/td>\nFrogfoot<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\nR747<\/td>\nR12.45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Axxess<\/td>\nFrogfoot<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\nR765<\/td>\nR12.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nFrogfoot<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\n60Mbps<\/td>\nR799<\/td>\nR13.32<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR747<\/strong><\/td>\nR14.94<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR759<\/strong><\/td>\nR15.18<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RSAWeb<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR765<\/strong><\/td>\nR15.30<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR769<\/strong><\/td>\nR15.38<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Axxess<\/td>\nMetroFibre<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\nR695<\/td>\nR15.44<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RSAWeb<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nexus<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\nR695<\/td>\nR15.44<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nexus<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\nR697<\/td>\nR15.49<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Axxess<\/strong><\/td>\nOpenserve<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\n50Mbps<\/strong><\/td>\nR785<\/strong><\/td>\nR15.70<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RSAWeb<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\nR785<\/td>\nR15.70<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/td>\nMetroFibre Nexus<\/td>\n45Mpbs<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\nR709<\/td>\nR15.76<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Webafrica<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\nR789<\/td>\nR15.78<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afrihost<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\nR797<\/td>\nR15.94<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\nR799<\/td>\nR15.98<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Axxess<\/td>\nVumatel<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\n50Mbps<\/td>\nR799<\/td>\nR15.98<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telkom<\/td>\nMetroFibre<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\n45Mbps<\/td>\nR749<\/td>\nR16.64<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Telkom’s fibre pricing for Openserve packages is often higher than for rival fibre network operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":576472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28470],"tags":[20153,29952,59717,33386,109,25299],"class_list":["post-596009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fibre","tag-fibre-to-the-home-ftth","tag-frogfoot","tag-metrofibre","tag-openserve","tag-telkom","tag-vumatel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596009"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":596728,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596009\/revisions\/596728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}