Telkom unveils new fixed-LTE plans – 220GB for R999

Telkom has taken the wraps off new Sim-only fixed-LTE broadband plans for both contract and prepaid customers, with prices starting at R59/month for 5GB of data (plus 5GB of “night surfer” data).

The new plans come after MTN South Africa-owned Internet service provider Supersonic unveiled its first fixed-LTE packages using MTN’s 4G network; the mobile operator is set to provide similar wholesale LTE services to other ISPs interested into launching such services to their clients.

The Telkom pricing is similar to Supersonic’s — though there’s a wider range of packages available from Telkom — and can be bought without entering into a long-term contract, though there is an option to get a bundled router if customers are willing to sign up for a 24-month contract.

The Telkom plans all include double the data for late-night use (when the network is typically much quieter), with the contract plans offering data validity of two months, except on the two entry-level packages.

Prices range from R59 for a 5GB plan to R999 for a 220GB option.

On prepaid, the plans start at R99 for 5GB with 31 days’ validity and go up to R1 059 for 220GB with 61 days’ validity (see tables below).

The plans are similarly priced to Supersonic, which offers three fixed-LTE packages at launch: a 60GB plan (with an additional 60GB of after-midnight data) for R399/month; a 100GB (plus 100GB) plan for R599/month; and a 150GB (plus 150GB) plan for R799/month. The month-to-month packages on Supersonic are Sim only, with an optional router costing R1 699 or R69/month for 24 months.

Both Supersonic and Telkom appear keen to step into the breach left by Cell C, which recently announced it was terminating its wholesale fixed-LTE offering with Internet Solutions.

Cell C said last month that customers of the service made up just 0.5% of its base but were using 20% of its data network capacity.

Internet Solutions had provided access to Cell C’s LTE network to other Internet service providers, including Afrihost and Vox, which then offered wireless broadband services to retail consumers.

Internet Solutions said 100GB and 200GB fixed-LTE packages would be terminated — with Sim cards deactivated and data forfeited — at midnight on 31 October. The same would happen on 20GB and 50GB packages on 31 December.

No longer profitable

Cell C said the provision of the service was no longer profitable for the company. “While another competitor may be willing to offer (this service) at a similar or lower price, Cell C does not believe it is sustainable,” the company said at the time.

The high data usage was having an impact of the quality of Cell C’s network and therefore for other Cell C customers, it added.

It said the decision to terminate wholesale fixed-LTE services — it would continue to sell such services directly to end users, though at a much higher price — was the result of a decision to review its full product portfolio. The wholesale fixed-LTE plans were introduced nearly two years ago and during that period the “competitive landscape has changed substantially”, it said. — (c) 2019 NewsCentral Media