Mweb has threatened to take Telkom to the Competition Commission if the fixed-line operator does not significantly reduce its wholesale IP Connect charges.<\/p>\n
The statement came out in the announcement that the data speeds of the ISP’s \u201cStandard Uncapped Shaped ADSL\u201d and \u201cBusiness Basic\u201d products will be increased at no additional cost to customers.<\/p>\n
This follows Telkom’s move to start upgrading its existing ADSL customers to higher line speeds from early November 2013.<\/p>\n
The line speed upgrades are being performed free of charge, meaning that ADSL subscribers will benefit from higher access speeds without price increases; however, many ISPs, including Mweb, have taken issue with a resulting increase in data costs.<\/p>\n
Mweb has indicated that it is unable to make changes to its premium uncapped shaped and unshaped products until Telkom reduces its charges for IPC.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst we welcome Telkom\u2019s initiative to double the access line speeds at no extra costs to the end-user, ISP\u2019s cannot be expected to absorb the costs of a corresponding increase in data products,\u201d said Derek Hershaw, CEO of Mweb ISP.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are currently in discussions with Telkom around a significant reduction in their wholesale IPC charges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these are not immediately forthcoming we will be referring the matter to the Competition Commission, asking them to intervene as a matter of urgency and force the issue. We can then pass on the full benefits of the line speed upgrades to all of our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mweb announced that, along with its free upgrades, it will also introduce a 6Mbps product and reduce the price of its 10Mbps and 20Mbps standard uncapped products.<\/p>\n
A number of Mweb\u2019s Uncapped ADSL products will be automatically migrated early next year.<\/p>\n