MTN upping their prices

MTN announced in a press release yesterday that it will be “introducing revised subscription rates for its contract and data plans and reviewing its prepaid data bundle prices.”
 
MTN went on to highlight that “in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act and MTN’s Subscriber Agreement terms and conditions, MTN will give its subscribers 20 working days’ notice prior to effecting the price changes for contract customers.”
 
Network investment costs
 
“In the last few years, MTN’s prices have been relatively stable despite the challenging economic environment and the substantial investment MTN has made on its network,” said the MTN press release.
 
However, the telecommunications company went on to say that in 2014, MTN underwent a process of reviewing its operations which was aimed at increasing efficiencies and reviewing its costs.
 
“This exercise was aimed at mitigating the impact of the challenging environment MTN operates in.  The reduction in mobile termination rates, coupled with the increased costs of network investment, has necessitated a review of pricing,” said MTN.
 
MTN is not the first network provider to increase its prices in recent weeks. Vodacom made the news a few weeks ago when it announced a price increase, and Cell C introduced new prices a few months ago.
 
Load shedding to blame
 
According to MTN, it has not increased its contract subscription prices for over a decade. However, in light of the recent spout of power outages due to load shedding, the company has invested in generators and back-up batteries to power its base stations.
 
“All these cumulative costs have compelled the operator to review its pricing as the last resort,” said MTN.
 
New MTN prices
 

 
*Source: MTN