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What you can buy for R1000 – 2002 vs 2012

Rudolph Muller

 ·14 May 2012

ADSL and mobile data prices have plunged over the last decade. The total cost of an ADSL service dropped by over 50% since it was launched in 2002, while mobile data costs decreased by 96% over the last 10 years.

In 2002, a basic 512 Kbps ADSL service cost residential customers R966.72 per month (R67.72 for analogue line rental, R680 for ADSL access and R219 for a 3GB data bundle). The price for a 384kbps with 5GB of data, in comparison, is now priced at R358.97 (R219.00 + R139.97).

Even more significant price-cuts are visible in the mobile data market. In 2002, a 10MB data bundle from Vodacom cost R200 (hence R20 per MB). Today, users can buy a 1GB data bundle from the same company for R99 (10c per MB).

Broadband prices have seen price cuts of between 50% and 95% over the last decade. These price reductions were partly fuelled by lower international bandwidth prices made possible by SEACOM.

When compared with other products like petrol, fuel and food, broadband stands out as a product which bucked the trend of price increases.

The following table provides an overview of the price changes of a few products over the last 10 years.

Another interesting comparison is what consumers could get for R1,000 in 2002, and what they can get for the same amount now.