Telkom prices to go up

PrepaidFone calls, data connectivity products, monthly rentals and installation costs will go up from 1 August.

Telkom’s overall basic voice and data services will increase by 1.2% from August.

This after Telkom filed price adjustments which will see PrepaidFone local calls increase by 5%, while long distance calls remain unchanged. Line rental for PrepaidFone will increase by 6% and postpaid residential and business line rental will increase by 6%.

Price increases which will come into effect on 1 August 2012 will be below the Consumer Price Index, says Telkom

Installation charges will also increase by 6% including Postpaid, PrepaidFone ISDN and DSL services.

The new price structure also will see a decrease in fixed to mobile call tariffs – with per minute tariffs being reduced by 3.6% to R1.35 for peak time and R1.08 for off peak calls.

According to the operator, despite the increases, the prices which will come into effect on 1 August 2012 will be below the Consumer Price Index.

“Telkom is committed to delivering value as we endeavour to contain the adjustments to a minimum. To this end, the adjustments are significantly less than inflation which is currently at 5.7%,” said Manelisa Mavuso, Telkom’s MD: Consumer Services and Retail.

The operator noted that although international calls will not increase overall, tariffs to certain destinations will increase others will decrease. Some destinations for example the United Kingdom and the United States of America will remain unchanged.

On Telkom’s Closer product range, the monthly subscription for Closer 1 will increase to R167 while Closer 2 will increase to R185 and Closer 3 will increase to R341.

Mavuso said that adjustments to data connectivity products were also kept to a minimum with an overall increase of only 1%.

The monthly rental fees on Telkom’s Do Broadband bundles remain unchanged. Monthly rental fees on the DSL offers will increase as follows: Fast DSL will increase to R165.00; Faster DSL will increase to R299.00 and Fastest DSL will increase to R425.00.

“As competition in the industry heats up, Telkom continues to compete and ultimately promote affordable telecommunications access,” concluded Mavuso.