• A few days before they are set to take effect, Telkom has announced tariff increases for its customers.
• The changes take effect from 1st April, and will include mobile, DSL, Voice, FTTH, and YEP products.
• Telkom says the tariff increases are a reaction to the current inflation rate of 5.8 percent.

As South Africans prepare for an upcoming Easter weekend, Telkom has left it until the eleventh hour to inform customers of tariff increases that will take effect from 1st April.

Telkom is not the only network operator to announce tariff increases, with Vodacom’s set to take effect from 1st April too, and MTN’s ones being adjusted on 1st February a few weeks ago.

Like its competitors, Telkom has cited the current inflation rate of 5.8 percent, and the need to ensure a sustainable level of service as the reasons behind the increases.

“Telkom, like many other South African enterprises, acknowledges the impact of macroeconomic factors and is strategically adjusting tariffs to maintain service quality while remaining competitive in the market,” it noted in a release shared with Hypertext.

“As we adapt to economic dynamics, we are investing in measures to prioritize customer satisfaction. We encourage our customers to explore the value options within our product range tailored to their connectivity, entertainment, and communication needs,” added Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer and Small Business.

How satisfied customers will feel regarding the increases remains to be be seen, with fixed postpaid services, certain out-of-bundle mobile rates, DSL, Voice, FTTH, and YEP products for consumer and SMB all being affected.

In terms of the Telkom products that will be more expensive from 1st April, the company has listed the following:

• “Consumer Fixed Voice Services: Tariffs will increase by an average of 15% for services such as Line Rental, Prepaid FLLA, Closer calling plans, and installation charges. SmartVoice customers will not experience any increases.
• Mobile Services: Out-of-bundle voice rates will increase from R0.80 to R0.89 for most post-paid tariffs, while out-of-bundle data rates will increase from R0.35 to R0.39 per MB across all mobile products. Similarly, out-of-bundle rates for SMSs will increase from R0.35 to R0.39 per SMS. No increases will be applied to ad-hoc or recurring bundles.
• Post-paid Plans: Monthly subscription costs for post-paid plans (mobile voice plans such as FlexOn and Infinite, as well as LTE data plans) will increase by an average of 6% starting from 1 June 2024. Other fees like device instalment fees, insurance, Value Added Services, or recurring bundles will not see additional increases.
• Small and Medium Business (SMB) Voice Services: Tariffs will rise by an average of 12.5% for Line Rental, Installation & Calling plans, and 5% for PABX products.
• Broadband Services: Tariff adjustments will be made across Consumer DSL, SMB DSL, Consumer FTTH, and SMB FTTH portfolios. Consumer DSL and SMB DSL tariffs will increase by an average of 15%, while Consumer FTTH and SMB FTTH will see an average tariff adjustment of 10%. Details regarding other fibre network operator products will be shared closer to implementation.
• YEP Product Portfolio: An average tariff adjustment of 5% will be applied to products such as YEPSynch & Banners, Reputation Management, and Social Marketing Tools.”