Just a day after MWeb dropped a bombshell on SA’s Internet industry by slashing broadband prices and introducing uncapped offerings, Vox Telecom subsidiary @lantic has struck back, undercutting MWeb and setting the stage for a full-blown price war.

@lantic has introduced three uncapped products, including ADSL line rental and uncapped data bundles, starting at just R339/month for consumers with 384kbit/s lines. Its 512kbit/s and 4Mbit/s offerings cost R589/month and R889/month, including broadband line rental, respectively.

But @lantic marketing director Dederick Venter says even with these reduced rates, the cost of broadband in SA is “still too high”. He says he hopes the price reductions will “force the hand of the incumbent operators who stubbornly protect their revenue streams to the detriment of consumers”.

“As a developing country, SA needs a greater amount of broadband uptake and that can only be achieved by a reduction of wholesale prices and the unbundling of the local loop. Only once these issues are dealt with will we see truly competitive prices for the consumer,” Venter says.

Vox MD Douglas Reed says the company is “revamping” all its broadband solutions. Vox DataPro and Vox Telepreneur will also announce new products soon, Reed says.

“MWeb must be applauded for making some heavy investments in infrastructure, which have allowed it to offer uncapped bandwidth to the market. Yet the degree to which Vox, MWeb and every other player in the market can cut their tariffs is frustratingly highly constrained by Telkom,” Reed says. — Staff reporter, TechCentral