Local Internet Service Provider RSAWEB yesterday announced the release of its new ADSL line rental prices, featuring the lowest ever line rental prices seen by the South African market.
Local Internet Service Provider RSAWEB yesterday announced the release of their new ADSL line rental prices, featuring the lowest ever line rental prices seen by the South African market since the service was introduced in 2002. The new prices which offer savings of up to 30% and R1 092 per annum come as welcome relief to local consumers plagued by a fragile economy, rising inflation and sky-rocketing fuel and electricity costs.
MD of RSAWEB Rob Gilmour says that the high cost of ADSL line rentals is the last barrier to providing affordable broadband access to all South Africans: ‚Consumers have benefitted from the recent price wars over data, but when you add the cost of line rentals, the barrier still remains too high – especially for the lower income groups that have been hardest hit by recessionary pressures and rampant inflation.”
‚The wider economic benefits of a connected society will only truly be felt once this barrier is removed, and broadband penetration can grow unhindered‚Ķ‚
Despite the steady fall of ADSL and mobile data costs due to healthy competition over the past two years, the cost of ADSL line rentals has not followed suit.
“”ICASA is making strides in the right direction with LLU, but the progress is too slow and too late in the game,”” commented Gilmour.
Gilmour goes on to explain that the new prices will not only benefit consumers, but the industry at large: “”By removing the barriers of high line rental costs, broadband penetration can grow at a faster pace, creating a much larger pool of Internet users. The new prices will also put pressure on the incumbents to lower the wholesale prices of line rentals, as we’ve seen was the case with the recent broadband data price wars.””
The new prices, which offer savings of up to 30% or R1 092 per annum, are available on RSAWEB’s consumer capped ADSL product: Super DSL.
Line
New Price
Monthly Savings
Annual Savings
%Change Monthly
384kb/s
R129
R23
R276
15%
1Mb/s
R211
R88
R1 056
30%
10Mb/s
R322
R91
R1 092
22%
How the new prices stack up against other South African ISPs:
Company
RSAWEB
Telkom*
Web Africa*
Axxess*
384kb/s
R129
R152
R150
R139
1Mb/s
R211
R289
R250
R249
10Mb/s
R322
R413
R400
R359
“