• Telkom Prepaid Compact-Fibre offers two weeks of uncapped internet access for just R199.
• Additional connectivity for seven days will cost R99.
• The fibre package has a Fair Usage Policy of 200GB after which speeds will be reduced from 20Mbps to 4Mbps.

Telkom South Africa has launched a new product which may help to get more folks connected to the internet affordably. Unfortunately, there is a big catch attached to what the firm is calling Telkom Prepaid Compact-Fibre.

This new product is pre-paid and costs just R199 which grants 14-days of connectivity. This connection features 20Mbps download and 10Mbps upload which should be sufficient for most things including streaming and video calls.

The connectivity is handled through Openserve and as such, those looking to purchase this solution will need to be in an area served by the network operator. Thankfully, the firm has a large network.

“As the largest Fibre network operator in South Africa, boasting 170,000km of Fibre infrastructure, we are committed to delivering straightforward, dependable, and hassle-free Fibre services to our customers,” shared Makgosi Mabaso, Managing Executive for Business and Home Solutions at Telkom.

After the 14 days, customers can purchase additional time on the network at R99 for an additional seven days.

For a full 31 days of connectivity then, customers could end up paying R496 per month (that runs you into the next month) which is, rather costly for what you’re getting. We’d recommend our readers shop around for other packages before signing up for this.

With that having been said, the flexibility of being able to forego payment – and connectivity – for a period of time does make it more affordable and at least should a person need the connectivity, it will cost them R99 for seven days of unlimited access. We should note that if the connection isn’t recharged within 90 days, users will be required to pay R199 for a once-off activation and seven days of access.

The downside here is that Telkom’s Fair Usage Policy will throttle users to 20 percent of their speed after exceeding downloads of 200GB. That can be eaten up quite quickly and a dip in speeds from 20Mbps to 4Mbps is going to be noticeable.

As mentioned, we recommend shopping around for fibre connectivity. Local ISP Net Nine Nine is a great place to start if you’re looking for affordable fibre and can afford a monthly fee.