Less than three weeks after Vodacom hiked its subscription fees for a range of contract packages and a week after Telkom revealed plans to hike line rental fees, MTN is following suit, announcing it intends revising subscription rates for its contract and data plans.
MTN is also planning to increase prepaid data bundle prices, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
“In accordance with the Consumer Protection Act and MTN’s subscriber agreement terms and conditions, MTN will give its subscribers 20 working days’ notice prior to effecting the price changes for contract customers,” it said.
“In the last few years, MTN’s prices have been relatively stable despite the challenging economic environment and the substantial investment MTN has made on its network.
“In 2014, MTN underwent a process of reviewing its operations which was aimed at increasing efficiencies and reviewing its costs. This exercise was aimed at mitigating the impact of the challenging environment MTN operates in. The reduction in mobile termination rates, coupled with the increased costs of network investment, has necessitated a review of pricing.”
It said it has not increased contract subscription prices for more than a decade. This is despite “rising operational costs, distribution costs, transport costs, handset price increases, infrastructural costs, falling exchange rates and an increase in taxes.”
It said it has had to invest big money in generators and backup batteries to power its base stations during power outages, too. “All these cumulative costs have compelled the operator to review its pricing as a last resort.” — © 2015 NewsCentral Media
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