In a recent presentation Telkom\u2019s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Godfrey Ntoele, claimed that Telkom\u2019s Do Broadband Level 1 offering is of the most affordable in the world. In Ntoele\u2019s International Broadband Benchmarking slide the Do Broadband Level 1 service is benchmarked against other broadband services in the Czeck Republic, Egypt, France, Italy, UK, Greece, Tunisia, Portugal, Morocco, Mexico, Poland, India, Chile and Hungary.<\/p>\n
According to the presentation, Telkom\u2019s broadband offering is the 7th cheapest among these countries, and more affordable than countries like Morocco, Portugal, Greece, Mexico and India.<\/p>\n
Using suitable criteria<\/strong><\/p>\n A closer look however reveals serious flaws in the international broadband benchmarking procedure used.<\/p>\n Telkom\u2019s Do Broadband Level 1 offering has a speed of 384 Kbps and a monthly usage limit of 1 GB. To accurately benchmark worldwide broadband offerings both speed and usage limits must be taken into account.<\/p>\n It is noteworthy that these two criteria are not only used for broadband benchmarking, but are also used by Telkom for developing services and distinguishing on price. These two criteria are in fact a worldwide standard for distinguishing between the various broadband offerings in the market.<\/p>\n The cost per Mbps per month is a standard benchmarking system applied in unlimited usage environments, and Cost\/Mbps\/GB therefore becomes a relevant yardstick to use for broadband services where usage is limited or capped.<\/p>\n A true comparison<\/strong><\/p>\n Telkom\u2019s Do Broadband Level 1 \u2013 with a speed of 384 Kbps and a usage allowance of 1 GB \u2013 has a Cost\/Mbps\/GB of R 531-00. When compared to the other countries on the list this price can be considered to be very expensive.<\/p>\n The analysis further claims that Telkom\u2019s Do Broadband Level 1 price is very close to what is on offer in the UK. It is assumed that Telkom benchmarked its entry level product against BT\u2019s entry level product which costs R 253-00 per month (when no discounts are applied).<\/p>\n This service is however an 8 Mbps offering and carries a usage allowance five times larger than that of Telkom\u2019s Do Broadband Level 1 offering. The British Telecom offering has a Cost\/Mbps\/GB figure of R6-33, over 80 times less than the R531-00 figure for Telkom\u2019s Do Broadband Level 1 service.<\/p>\n Claims to be more affordable than countries like Chile, India and Morocco are also dubious at best.<\/p>\n In Chile the price for a 10 Mbps service with a 5 GB usage limit is around R 500-00, far less than Telkom\u2019s 4 Mbps ADSL offerings. Chileans also have the option of a more affordable flat rated 128 Kbps offering for R183-00.<\/p>\n Morocco is even more affordable. Menara, the country\u2019s largest ADSL ISP, has recently slashed the price of their unlimited ADSL 128 Kbps offering to a mere R 41-00 per month. The price for their unlimited 256 Kbps offering is just under R 130-00 per month.<\/p>\n Indians also have it far better than Telkom\u2019s customers. India\u2019s BSNL offers a 2 Mbit\/s service with a 2.5 GB monthly usage limit for a mere R 68-00 per month. According to WikiPedia an unlimited 256 Kbps offering is priced at R 151-00 per month, far less than Telkom\u2019s entry level offerings which all carry restrictive usage limits.<\/p>\n It becomes clear that the analysis used by Ntoele is very suspect and refuted by a simple Google search about worldwide broadband pricing.<\/p>\n Telkom explains<\/strong><\/p>\n Telkom pointed out that a company called Africa Analysis did the research.<\/p>\n \u201cThe international bench marking was done independently by Africa Analysis. The entry level broadband offerings from different countries were used. The speed offerings were mainly in the 512 kbps range and allowable data volume varied from country to country,\u201d said Lulu Letlape, Telkom\u2019s Group Executive for Corporate Communication.<\/p>\n \u201cThe comparison was done to benchmark entry level broadband products, and not necessarily products similar in speed and volume capping. High volume caps, in the countries that have these offerings, are justified by their high local bandwidth usage,\u201d Letlape concluded.<\/p>\n Africa Analysis said that they could not comment on this analysis as the work they do for a client is undertaken under a non disclosure agreement.<\/p>\n