In terms of a consent agreement with South Africa’s competition authorities, Telkom on Thursday unveiled further tariff reductions for certain wholesale products, including a sharp reduction in international bandwidth prices.
Effective from 17 October, Telkom Wholesale will reduce the tariff for its IP Connect product by 8%. IPC is the product that Internet service providers (ISPs) purchase to get access to Telkom’s broadband digital subscriber line network. Previous cuts to IPC charges have led to immediate reductions in prices charges by ISPs.
At the same time, Telkom is cutting the cost of its Chipac (customer-half IP access circuit) service by 4%, Ethernet Express by 6%, Metro Clear by 6%, and, perhaps most significantly, international private leased circuits by 25%.
“Additionally, Telkom Wholesale will implement an effective 10% price reduction on the off-the-shelf prices, across the following Saix Dedicated Access services: Saix Silver National International 75/25; Saix Gold National International 75/25; Saix International IP Transit and Saix National Plus,” the company said in a statement.
“Telkom’s undertakings to reduce prices were aimed at stimulating increased competition in the market with a large emphasis on wholesale,” group CEO Sipho Maseko said.
Telkom and the Competition Commission had agreed which products would be subject to price reductions, as well as the extent to which the tariffed prices of those products would be reduced within the 2014 financial year.
“Telkom is committed to fully complying with the provisions of the settlement agreement, which is proof of a higher level of transparency within Telkom and ultimately a further expression of the foundation of a new Telkom,” Maseko said in the statement.
- More to follow…