Telkom has left its broadband line rental and post-paid call rates unchanged while hiking basic line rental costs by about 5%.

In its annual tariff filing with the Independent Communications Authority of SA, the fixed-line operator says it could have hiked its basket of rates by as much as 19,3%, but has declined to do so.

Telkom SA MD Nombulelo “Pinky” Moholi says Telkom has not taken advantage of the regulatory allowance because it has a “commitment to the process of ensuring affordable telecommunications access in the country”.

A more plausible reason, of course, is that competitive pressures and consumer distress in a tight economic environment are preventing it from increasing its rates.

Telkom’s broadband digital subscriber line (DSL) and monthly bandwidth charges remain unchanged.

Oddly, the company has made no mention of improving bandwidth allocations for consumers, despite the introduction by competitors like MWeb of uncapped offerings.

It has also given away no details about its plans to increase DSL line speeds. News of this may come on Monday when Telkom reports its annual results.

Telkom is increasing its entry-level Closer 1 calling plan by a modest R5, while leaving other calling plan prices unchanged.

The new tariffs, which become effective on 1 August, are likely to put more pressure on Telkom to cut costs as competitive pressures intensify. It can no longer rely on tariff increases to offset inefficiencies.

International call prices remain mostly unchanged, with some cuts, and increases in call costs to Namibia and Botswana.

The cost of calls to Neotel and other licensed operators remains unchanged, too, as do calls from payphones. However, changes in the metering periods for public payphones will be made to introduce a single tariff for local and long distance calls.

Prepaid users will see a hike in call costs of 4,5% for local and long-distance calls. Prepaid installation costs have also risen. Postpaid line installations rise 4,9% to R491, from R468,05 previously. — Staff reporter, TechCentral