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Telecoms prices take a tumble

10 March 2010
 
Telecoms prices take a tumble
SA consumers, used to high prices for telecommunications, must be rubbing their hands in glee. The cost of broadband and voice telephony has begun falling, in some cases dramatically, as competition finally begins to take effect.

At the weekend, cellphone giant Vodacom announced it was effectively cutting its peak-time prepaid rates by as much as 40%. Vodacom customers who subscribe to a new prepaid offering, with a uniform all-day rate, will enjoy off-net call charges between 6 am and 8 pm on weekdays of R1,80/minute. That compares with R2,99/minute on the companys 4U prepaid plan.

VodacomҒs move came just one week after MTN introduced a similar all-day package for prepaid customers. And both operators were probably reacting to lower all-day prepaid tariffs introduced by their smaller rival, Cell C, late last year. The recent reduction in interconnection rates - the fees the operators cha...

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