Telkom’s new prices: a closer look

Does anyone know (with regards to the price changes in the big lines - IPLC, Diginet, ATM Express, etc) which of these will affect the ADSL data usage prices ?

Any chance that a 1GB ADSL account will cost less some time after these price adjustments ?!
 
More smoke and mirrors

Telkom have to reduce their total basket of services by 2% every year, right?

So all they do is cut the rates on high margin/low volume stuff (like the con that is ADSL 'line rental') by double digits, and push up the rates on high volume stuff (like line rental and call charges) by a few percentages. On paper it looks great, but in reality, they make more money.
 
kifoth said:
Telkom have to reduce their total basket of services by 2% every year, right?

So all they do is cut the rates on high margin/low volume stuff (like the con that is ADSL 'line rental') by double digits, and push up the rates on high volume stuff (like line rental and call charges) by a few percentages. On paper it looks great, but in reality, they make more money.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with you, Kifoth. Telkom has more voice only line subscribers than ADSL subsribers. So, by increasing the line rental, the voice line subscribers actually pay for the price reduction for the ADSL subscribers. The line rental increase makes up for the reduction in ADSL prices. Telkom aren't losing at all, but making more money! Very clever of them!
 
Can I not pay the R111.90 then if i don't want a phone on the end of my line?

I'm paying line rental for DSL and the ISP access portions so i don't see why not.

Thanks
 
ITboss said:
I absolutely agree with you, Kifoth. Telkom has more voice only line subscribers than ADSL subsribers. So, by increasing the line rental, the voice line subscribers actually pay for the price reduction for the ADSL subscribers. The line rental increase makes up for the reduction in ADSL prices. Telkom aren't losing at all, but making more money! Very clever of them!
Click to expand...

Hey, with ADSL we are also forced to subscribe to line rental, so pay less for ADSL, but more for rental !!!!
 
ITboss said:
I absolutely agree with you, Kifoth. Telkom has more voice only line subscribers than ADSL subsribers. So, by increasing the line rental, the voice line subscribers actually pay for the price reduction for the ADSL subscribers. The line rental increase makes up for the reduction in ADSL prices. Telkom aren't losing at all, but making more money! Very clever of them!
Click to expand...

Take a look at the basic maths. I've rounded stuff off and made some assumptions to keep it simple.

If we have 200 000 ADSL users all paying R200 a month on ADSL line rental, that gives Telkom R40 000 000 a month in ADSL revenue. 4 000 000 million phone lines at R100 a month basic line rental earns them a further R400 000 000.

Total from both: R440 000 000

Now they cut ADSL line rental 40% (R120 x 200 000 = R24 000 000) and raise phone line rental 10% (R110 x 4 000 000 = R440 000 000).

Wow! Look! Telkom have cut their prices by an average of 30%! Aren't they wonderful? :rolleyes:

Except... Total income from both is now: R464 000 000. Sorry consumer, you lose!
 
Donald Bradbury said:
Hey, with ADSL we are also forced to subscribe to line rental, so pay less for ADSL, but more for rental !!!!
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Yip, Telkom are probably gonna make more money from these price "changes" since the majority of people who have phone lines don't also have DSL so they're gonna be forking out extra.
 
Old trick

I agree with Kifoth. 30 years ago a rumour would start that the the fuel price was going to increase by 50c per liter, and all hell broke loose and all spoke about it. Back then when the rumoured increase did happen and it was 25c per liter, all was so relieved that the increase was so small. In real terms the increase of 25c was terrible but all was glad. This ploy from telkom is the same simply because MOST people do not THINK. The reductions get highlighted and the increases mentioned in the passing.
 
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Rentals vs The cost of Copper

I said it in another post this morning.
How can Telkom increase it's fixed line market.
Decrease or drop these rentals altogether.
That is why many customers have moved to cell phones other than the mobility as the main reason.

That charge for ISDN is ludicrous!!:mad:
For such outdated technology as well.
I suspect they think they can charge you the extra rental as you get 2 ports on one copper line?

It is all about competition or lack of it when it comes to line rentals imho.

Another thought.
Could we be paying for all the copper theft?
I heard recently that the Western Cape exports the largest amount of copper in the world, yet not one ounce of copper is mined in this area.
Food for thought?
 
So much for making comunication cheaper for the poor. They increase the price for people who can't afford adsl and then reduce the price for the people who can.
 
Still the classic slidescale. Telkom is a sneaky little bastard!
 
kifoth you're absolutely correct, and part of the problem is the inclusion of ADSL in the residential basket. This allows Telkom to push required reductions onto an already overpriced ADSL service instead of things like local calls, line rental etc. In fact, Telkom has weighted excessive decreases onto ADSL which has enabled them to actually increase local calls/line rental. The Regulations governing this are up for review by ICASA this year, and perhaps it is time to look into the effects of the inclusion of adsl in the residential basket.
 
antowan said:
Still the classic slidescale. Telkom is a sneaky little bastard!
Click to expand...
They know they have reached the top of their game in the fixed line market and now it is a matter of how to milk that 4 point something million people for whatever they can squeeze out of them.
And line rental is a nice steady "little" cash flow for them.
 
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BTTB said:
They know they have reached the top of their game in the fixed line market and now it is a matter of how to milk that 4 point something million
Click to expand...

4.6 million (number of lines has been declining by an average of about 50 000 fixed lines a year for the last 6 years)
 
Debbie2 said:
4.6 million (number of lines has been declining by an average of about 50 000 fixed lines a year for the last 6 years)
Click to expand...

Thanks Debbie. :)
That is a lot of customers.
No wonder the Line Rental is over R100 a month.
 
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