Cwele steps into data costs outcry

Minister wants Competition Commission to probe pricing for communication

Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele wants the Competition Commission to investigate the high cost of data in the country.

Presenting his spending and policy priorities for the 2017-2018 financial year, Cwele lamented the high cost of communication, saying this needed the intervention of the commission, through a probe into prices in the cellphone and telecommunications industry.

Cwele said the cost of data was not about to drop any time soon due to a lack of competition in the telecoms market, which is dominated by four big operators, Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Telkom.

The telecoms minister last year issued a policy directive to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to prioritise an inquiry and regulations to ensure “effective competition in broadband markets”.

This followed a “data must fall” campaign, as well as public hearings in parliament on the cost to communicate.

“The response from the regulator suggests they will finalise this work in the next 2-3 years.

“Furthermore, Icasa’s state of ICT report seem to suggest a lack of competition, particularly by dominant players.

“The situation may need the attention of the Competition Commission,” said Cwele.

He said his department would meet with Icasa and “really push them because this data must fall thing is big”.

He said Icasa’s report showed data traffic had risen 55% while data revenue was up from R30 billion to R38-billion.

But this did not translate into improved job creation in the sector.

“The employment decreased by 4 000, yet prices remain sticky at the same high level,” said Cwele.