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Telkom charges are worlds third highest2007-05-01 FIXED-line costs in SA are the third highest in the world despite substantial tariff reductions by Telkom last year, says a study released yesterday. Research by US-based cost management consulting firm NUS Consulting Group found that “Telkom’s charges continue to disadvantage South African organisations in their efforts to compete in the world’s major markets”. Telkom’s tariffs remained high despite its 10% reduction for long-distance national calls and 30% discount on calls to the US. Stephan Dolk, NUS director in SA, said Telkom should be commended for the price cuts made despite the continuing lack of effective competition. “However, their prices simply do not compete with the tariffs charged by telecommunications operators in many other countries, where charges for many call categories have dropped sharply in recent years as a result of fierce competition,” said Dolk. He said Telkom’s tariffs were likely to remain high over the next year as its competitor, Neotel, tried to establish itself in the market. However, Telkom said yesterday that its prices were competitive. It said it was “committed to the process of consistently adjusting its pricing model in order to make telecommunications more affordable and accessible to business as well as the broader South African public”. “Furthermore, product innovations in the form of bundled packages … have substantially increased the value that residential and business customers derive and have made considerable savings possible over and above Telkom’s price reductions,” said spokeswoman Lulu Letlape. NUS said the survey was conducted in 14 of the most important telecommunications markets. These were Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, SA, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US. It found that most fixed-line operators were decreasing their call charges due to competition from cellphones and voice over internet protocol services. According to the study, Belgium has the highest local call costs in the world, charging 0,18 for a standard three-minute call during peak hours. The Netherlands ranked second, charging marginally higher than $0,14, and SA was third, at $0,14. The UK had the highest cellphone call costs at $0,75 for three minutes. Source: My Broadband |
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