MTN announces an annual price increase for most contracts and it isn’t especially pretty

MTN has announced an increase in subscription prices for a subset of contract (post-paid) customers beginning from 1 May this year via its website. The pricing changes are unilateral, regardless of what you signed when you took out your contract — which kind of belies the point of signing up for one.

MTN has naturally defended the price increase, which would see customers’ contract prices rising 5% on average.

“The inflationary environment which has significantly contributed to increased input costs has compelled MTN to react to market pressures. We have tried to keep the price adjustments to a minimum in a bid to provide our customers with quality telecommunications services as cost-effectively as possible.”

We’ve all heard that one before.

No MTN dew for you

Seven groups of MTN Customers are affected. Those on the Mega Gigs, Mega Talk, MyMTN Choice, Black Friday, Made for Me, and MyMTN Sky packages will be the proud new recipients of a contract price increase.

The most egregious of changes lie with the Sky MTM Black TopUp subscription plan, which has seen an increase of R129. It may not seem like a lot, but during the times we’re living in, R176 may go a long way. If you’re on the Sky MTN Black Topup plan, which is (now) billed at R2729/m, you probably don’t have to worry about that. Those on plans like Mega Gigs, MyMTN Choice, or the lurkers who only subscribe on Black Friday likely need to be a little more frugal.

For a full list of the price increases heading to your wallet from 1 May, pay a visit to MTN. Alternatively, check your inbox. There’s probably a price increase notification waiting in there somewhere.