Telkom filed their latest tariff adjustments last week with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). The new prices, which are set to kick in on 1 August 2009, see an overall increase of 1.7% in Telkom rates.<\/p>\n
Telkom further announced that the monthly subscription charges for DSL, Do Broadband and TelkomInternet remain unchanged. But there were one or two changes – Telkom announced that they would upgrade the TelkomInternet all access 2 GB and 3 GB standard packages to 3 GB and 5 GB respectively. Local bandwidth limits of 20 GB and 30 GB respectively remain unchanged.<\/p>\n
The bandwidth increase may however not be as promising as it sounds. <\/p>\n
Telkom currently has a ‘soft cap’ and a monthly ‘threshold value’ which means that ADSL users can exceed their monthly bandwidth usage limit without being cut off immediately. Anecdotal evidence suggests that users are allowed approximately 150% of their allotted monthly cap before being limited to local-only bandwidth.<\/p>\n
When the new prices kick in on 1 August the more lenient capping regime will come to an end. “The threshold will no longer exist and user accounts will be capped at the exact values,” Telkom said. <\/p>\n
If hard capping is introduced on all TelkomInternet and Do Broadband accounts, most subscribers will not really benefit when Telkom’s new pricing kicks in. <\/p>\n
The first disadvantage to ADSL users is that the cost of postpaid residential and business line rental charges will increase by 5.5%. This means that the monthly residential analogue line rental cost will increase from R 124.20 to R 131.03. Business users will pay R 174.08 instead of the current R 165.00 monthly rental charge.<\/p>\n
Telkom’s 1 GB account holders will be the worst affected by the latest pricing changes in 1 August. Instead of the typical 1.5 GB threshold usage limit these users may be cut of strictly at 1 GB, not only removing the benefit of Telkom’s lenient capping but also increasing the overall cost of the service because of the higher line rental charges.<\/p>\n
2 GB account holders will essentially get the same amount of bandwidth per month (3 GB), but will have a slightly higher overall cost for their service. <\/p>\n
3 GB Telkom subscribers will now get 5 GB, around 500 MB more than the typical 4.5 GB where most users are currently capped. This compensates for the R 6.83 increase in line rental charges.<\/p>\n
Pricing comparison The higher official 3 GB and 5 GB caps make Telkom more competitive in the current ADSL market. Telkom will in future charge R 149.00 for a 3 GB account, lower than Axxess’ price of R 179.00 and Web Africa’s rate of R 199.00 per month.<\/p>\n Telkom’s price for a 5 GB account will be R 239.00 from 1 August, significantly lower than Web Africa’s R 290.00 and Axxess’ R 299.00 for the same usage limit. <\/p>\n When it comes to Telkom’s 1 GB account, which retails for 79.00 per month, it is less attractive than the higher usage offerings. Axxess sells 1 GB month-to-month accounts for R 59.00 per month while Web Africa is also cheaper at R 70 for a 1 GB account.<\/p>\n
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The benefit of the new higher usage limits from Telkom is that users are now assured of higher monthly caps while it was previously a gamble as to when the floodgate would close. The added bonus of large local bandwidth allowances is something which many current Telkom subscribers find of value.<\/p>\n