The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) yesterday gave its blessing to Telkom`s planned tariff increases for January 2001, but said it is not necessarily happy with the numbers.
"ICASA said that it viewed the increases as potentially having a negative impact on affordability," the regulator said in a statement. "This could be an impediment towards the attainment of universal service."
According to ICASA`s calculations, the tariff structure means "overall increases in excess of 16% and 26% for local calls and broadcasting lines respectively".
Under the terms of its exclusivity, Telkom`s increases on services for which it holds a monopoly, including all interactive landline voice calls, are capped at a 1.5% below the consumer price index (CPI). With CPI for next year projected at 6.9%, those services are to increase by a total of 5.4% in January.
Telkom said in November that it had filed for the maximum increase while interconnect negotiations with cellular operators MTN and Vodacom are pending, and that the increases could be reduced if those negotiations were successfully concluded.
"While Telkom had hoped a new interconnect agreement with Vodacom and MTN would have a positive downward effect on certain of its tariffs, the parties have unfortunately not yet brokered a new agreement," Telkom said yesterday.
Local call charges are to increase from 18c to 21c per minute during standard time, while calls between 50km and 100km will remain static at 60c per minute. Calls over a distance of more than 100km will decrease in cost from R1.24 per minute to R1.22 per minute. The minimum set-up call charge will increase from 50c to 58c, and payphone and prepaid calls will also increase.
Business monthly line rentals will increase from R75.70 to R83.30 per month, and residential rentals will increase from R57.26 to R62.70.
The cost of calls from a Telkom line to a cellular phone remains unchanged, as do international call charges.
Telkom says the increases still leave its charges competitive when compared to the rest of the world.
"Even with the increase, Telkom`s local call charges are extremely competitive, with a recent [Phillips Tarifica] survey ranking its three-minute local call charges during standard time third cheapest of those in 25 developing and developed nations," the company says.
But ICASA hinted that it might not have approved the increases were it not constrained by the Telkom licence, which effectively does not allow it to deny increases on the basis of price.
The current tariff regulatory structure will change next year, as provisions in the licence gearing towards competition in the sector come into play.
"The authority will shortly be releasing a consultative document that will set out a new proposed rate regime for the Public Switched Telecommunications Network for public comment," ICASA said.
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