Telkom’s current tariffs will be adjusted, resulting in an overall decrease of 2,5% in the price of its basket of products, the company announced on Tuesday.
Telkom customers will benefit from the price reduction from August 1, if the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) accepts the proposed price changes, said Steven Hayward, Telkom’s managing executive for retail marketing.
”Although the impact of the proposed prices will vary among customers, mainly due to the types of services they utilise, the overall effect will be a reduction in the cost of telecommunications in our country,” said Hayward.
There are cuts in long-distance (more than 50km) and international-call charges. The price for long-distance calls has been reduced by 10%.
”Long-distance calls will now cost 72c per minute during standard time and 36c per minute during ‘callmore’ time,” said Hayward.
Local calls (0km to 50km) remain the same at 38c for standard time, and 16c for callmore time.
Calls to the United States of America will now cost 99c per minute during global off-peak time and R1,20 during peak time, while calls to the United Kingdoms will cost R1,30 and R1,40 during global off-peak and peak time respectively.
International global off-peak time is during weekends, and from 8pm to 8am on weekdays.
”The main beneficiaries of the price change will be ADSL users, who will enjoy a reduction in rentals of up to 32%,” he said.
There are also reductions of up to 20% in the monthly rental for residential ISDN services and a decrease of 39% in the rates for IPLD (international private leased circuits).
”The fact that we have filed for an overall price decrease of 2,1% on our basket services clearly demonstrates our determination to make telecommunication even more affordable and accessible,” said Hayward. — Sapa