Afrihost, reacting to recent reductions in Telkom’s wholesale broadband access rates to Internet service providers, is cutting the cost of its uncapped consumer digital subscriber line (DSL) products, but with a catch for new 4Mbit/s subscribers.
All clients with existing 4Mbit/s uncapped accounts will have their monthly data bill reduced by 21%, from R497/month to R397.
However, for new customers, Afrihost is warning it may limit the lower pricing to new 4Mbit/s customers so that it can “determine the sustainability”.
The company says it has “committed to selling at least 500 of these packages” at the lower price but has “reserved the right to stop selling them at any time”.
“All existing clients and new subscriptions will be guaranteed the new price in perpetuity as long as they remain with Afrihost,” the service provider says in a statement.
“The reason Afrihost has taken a while to announce this is it decided to ensure it improved both the quality of the product and the price,” the statement says.
At the same time, Afrihost has cut its consumer 384kbit/s uncapped DSL plan by 10% to R177/month (R197 previously) and the 1Mbit/s service now costs R197/month (from R297 before), a reduction of 33%.
Afrihost’s 4Mbit/s uncapped pricing — if it sticks — may force rival service providers to cut their prices. When MWeb cut its prices recently, the benefits went to its 1Mbit/s uncapped users, with the 4Mbit/s price remaining unchanged at R539/month. That’s R142/month more than Afrihost’s new price.
On Tuesday, Afrihost cut the price of business DSL products, which offer unshaped and unmetered accounts. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media