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Johannesburg - Telkom has cut several of its mobile pre-paid data prices but Fin24 users have raised questions about the company’s new pricing for bundled internet packages in particular.
On Monday, Telkom announced that it is slashing its out of bundle pre-paid data rate from R1 to R0.29.
Moreover the company further announced a range of other pre-paid data price cuts. (See this link for more information.)
However, Telkom also announced that its previous 2GB + 1GB, 25GB + 25GB and the 60GB + 60GB bundles have been replaced with 3GB, 20GB and 50GB internet bundles respectively.
And it is the new pricing for these bundles in particular that has readers asking questions. New pricing for Telkom's new mobile pre-paid internet bundles are as follows: 3GB costs R199, R10GB costs R499, 20GB (valid for six months) costs R899 and 50GB (valid for 12 months) costs R1 799.
Fin24 user Jim Boorman wrote that these bundle prices may have actually gone up.
“I used to buy 25GB + 25GB for R999 valid for six months; now my closest option is 20GB only at R899 and no night surfer - I am much worse off and very pissed off,” wrote Boorman.
Another Fin24 user Thys Marais has also questioned Telkom’s bundle pricing model.
Marais told Fin24 in an email that he used to buy 60GB + 60GB pre-paid bundles for R1 800. Subsequently, Telkom’s new 50GB package is valued at R1 799.
“Everybody is not supposed to win when Telkom decides to lower their prices on selected products – and at least doubles the price on others. I have staff working at clients for which I used to buy Telkom’s 60GB + 60GB pre-paid bundle for R1 800. If the night-surfer portion is left off, then we effectively paid R30/GB,” said Marais.
Fin24 user Dawid has also questioned Telkom’s new pricing structure.
“I always used to take the 2 + 1GB for R149. I use all of it within a month. Now the 2GB costs R139 but you lose the 1GB night surfer. 3GB is R199. Therefore the same amount of data will now cost me R51 per month more. I do appreciate the fact the all the data can be used any time of the day,” said Dawid.
“I also noticed that the Telkom app calls the data ‘All Network Internet Bundles’. If this is indeed all networks and not just Telkom Mobile data, then the pricing is not bad at all. Before, you had to by all network data separately when you wanted to select data roaming when out of town. This is not clear yet,” Dawid added.
Telkom did note in its statement on Monday that “all packages will provide consumers the benefit of national network coverage that includes roaming on the MTN network outside Telkom’s coverage”.
Telkom in its statement on Monday also said that its new pricing models are intended to simply its offerings for consumers.
“We have revised and simplified our data bundles in order to provide the best value and service to our customers. We believe everyone should have access to the data they need, when they need it,” said Attila Vitai, Telkom’s Managing Director: Consumer and Mobile Services.
“With these changes and enhancements Telkom customers are able to surf anywhere, anytime, at a cheaper price, with data bundles that last for longer,” said Vitai.
“This is consistent to our overall strategy of putting the customer first and providing the best options on the market,” he added.
Disclaimer: All letters and comments published in Fin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
