Telkom to increase line rental charges from 1 May

Telkom has announced plans to hike the residential line rental charges from ZAR166 (USD13.69) to ZAR189 from 1 May 2015, while business users will see a 12.6% increase in the tariff, from ZAR239 to ZAR269, MyBroadband reports. The move comes on the back of another hike in residential rental charges, which saw the tariff increase from ZAR157 on 1 August 2014. Jacqui O’Sullivan, Telkom’s Managing Executive for Group Communication, explained that the pricing updates are part of Telkom’s rationalisation of products and services. ‘Factors that have influenced these fixed line rental changes include inflation, along with the access line deficit,’ O’Sullivan said, adding: ‘The updates required swift implementation on Telkom’s part. We continue to extensively invest in infrastructure to provide better services and value to our customers, making the product rationalisation an imperative.’ The executive highlighted that the adjustment also facilitates Telkom’s improvement to its voice packages to offer better value to customers.