Telkom announces price increases amid high inflation rate

Telkom South Africa has announced price increases for the Mobile, DSL & Voice portfolios, effective 1 April 2023 and FTTH (fibre to the home) products, effective 1 May 2023, respectively.
A shopper walks past a Telkom shop at a mall in Johannesburg, File. Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
A shopper walks past a Telkom shop at a mall in Johannesburg, File. Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

With an inflation rate sitting at a record 13-year high, Telkom said the price increases are necessary and unavoidable to ensure long-term business sustainability.

"Like many other South African companies and enterprises, Telkom has been impacted by the pressures driven by prevailing macroeconomic dynamics. The imminent price increases across fixed voice, ADSL, FTTH and mobile offerings will ensure continued quality service to Telkom’s customers, including small and medium businesses, whilst maintaining competitiveness," the company said.

Lunga Siyo: CEO of Telkom Consumer and Small Business, said:

"We understand that price increases are never easy, and we want to assure our customers that we have done everything possible to minimize the impact on them. The country's economic challenges, including rising inflation, have made it necessary for Telkom to adjust prices to maintain the high level of service our customers have come to expect. The price increase also comes with continued improvement of our products even in challenging times. "

DSL and voice will see an overall average increase of 8.4%, whereas the Yep! portfolio product will implement a 7% average increase following a three-year prize freeze. The fixed voice portfolio will increase prices by an average of 8.8% and encompasses all products related to line rental & calling plan tariffs. An 8% average price increase will be implemented across all DSL products, including expired and active bundles, Do Bundles (Soft Cap), Unlimited Home Lite Bundles, Home Unlimited Premium Bundles andDSL access-only services.

"FTTH products will increase by an average of 11% overall. This is mainly due to an increase in fees by our wholesale network operator. However, this increase in rates will be combined with an increase in speeds across the board. Consumers will therefore be getting more value with the increased prices.

"For mobile customers, certain prices will increase on average with 5% in monthly subscription costs, however, these increases only impact mobile customers subscribing to products within the SmartBroadband Data Portfolio. There will, however, be an increase in several data bundles and out-of-bundle rates for mobile voice, SMS, and data services, which will result in an increase on most tariffs. Voice rates for out-of-bundle consumption will increase from R0.75 to R0.80 per minute and data rates will increase from R0.32 to R0.35 per MB of data, on most plans," said Telkom.

"As we continue to invest in our operations, technology, and people to ensure we remain a reliable partner in connectivity for our customers during challenging times, Telkom remains committed to providing exceptional service and value, and we thank our customers for their continued support as we navigate this difficult economic period," Siyo added.

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