Inquiry hears how much more SA pays for data

Dropping cost to R50 a GB would still be unaffordable for 33 million South Africans

THE DATA Must Fall campaign started in earnest when the Competition Commission started hearings in Pretoria into high data prices.

“The opportunity to build a more inclusive society in South Africa has been lost due to high data prices, which excluded the poorer half of the population from access to information,” said DG Murray Trust chief executive Dr David Harrison, who, as one of the stakeholders, presented his findings at the hearings.

The Market Inquiry hearing, established to evaluate features in the market creating high data prices, came after numerous complaints of high data prices restricting the advancement of lower-income communities.

Harrison said data prices were exclusionary as over half of South Africans would have to spend 15 to 40% of their income to buy 1 gigabyte (GB) of mobile data.

He said that even dropping data prices to R50 per GB would require 33 million South Africans to spend an unaffordable 5% of their income on 1GB of mobile data.

“Until mobile data prices drop to below R15 per GB it will likely be unaffordable to the majority of South Africans, national development will remain hamstrung, and the digital divide is unlikely to be closed.

“While the government spends tens of billions of rand to provide internet access at clinics, schools, etc, the majority of South Africans are still not able to afford to access the internet in their homes. This means that over 50% of young people who are unemployed have no regular access to the internet,” said Harrison.

A senior researcher at Research ICT Africa, Onkokame Mothobi, echoed these views and said South Africans pay seven times more for data than consumers in other African countries, creating data discrimination.

Mothobi said the cost of 1GB in South Africa was seven times higher than in Egypt and nearly three times the price of 1GB in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, which was evidence that the cost of data in South Africa was high.

Mothobi said a 2017 RIA Access Survey showed that low-income earners pay a significantly high proportion of their income to access the internet, and the affordability divide between low- and high-income earners was creating barriers to connecting the poor.

Lazola Kati from the Right2Know campaign said factors keeping data prices high and inaccessible mostly related to systemic failures of policy and implementation by the government and regulators.

Kati suggested that the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) and other regulatory bodies should ensure data costs fall to match the socio-economic needs of South Africans and also suggested that affordable data and airtime be created for all South Africans. She also suggested that communications be universally available and affordable.

Harrison agreed and said the Murray Trust fully endorsed the call to reduce the cost of data in South Africa, and, given the extremely polarised income patterns, zero-rating of mobile data costs for services provided by the government should be implemented.

Icasa’s absence at the hearing was brought into question by the Internet Service Providers Association.

The hearing continues today.

50% of young people who are unemployed have no regular access to the internet DR David Harrison CEO of DG Murray Trust