When and How does JABI update their costings?
JABI may increase their connectivity or hosting costs for several common reasons:
Why costs increase
- Upstream bandwidth charges: ISPs rely on international submarine cables and local transit providers. Any increase in wholesale bandwidth pricing (e.g., due to currency fluctuations or higher demand) directly impacts operating costs. A weaker rand against major currencies like the US dollar can significantly raise these expenses.
- Infrastructure and capacity upgrades: To maintain performance and support growing traffic (e.g., streaming, cloud services, and remote work), ISPs must continually invest in network expansion, new hardware, and data centre capacity.
- Electricity and operational costs: In South Africa, rising electricity tariffs and the need for backup power solutions (such as generators or batteries due to load shedding) increase running costs for network infrastructure and hosting environments.
- Data centre and hosting costs: Colocation, cooling, security, and facility maintenance costs tend to rise annually, especially as demand for reliable hosting grows.
- Regulatory and licensing costs: Compliance with local regulations, spectrum fees, and administrative overheads may also contribute to increased operating expenses.
Cost review and adjustment cycle
JABI typically review their pricing structures every 6 months on average. This allows them to respond to changes in input costs, exchange rates, and market conditions in a structured way.
Historically, pricing adjustments are often implemented in April each year, aligning with the start of the new financial year for many South African businesses. This timing ensures that updated operational costs, supplier changes, and economic factors are reflected in customer pricing in a predictable and transparent manner.
