Service providers insist they are doing their bit to reduce costs
Fusi Mokoena, general manager at MTN’s legal department, said spectrum allocation was key in reducing operational costs, which could bring down data prices.
“In the past few years, MTN has reduced voice and data costs by approximately 75%. This year alone, data prices have fallen significantly, month-on-month, by a total of between 30 and 40%,” he said.
Mokoena said in other countries where the costs of data and voice are perceived to be lower, industry insights have revealed that network quality and coverage is not necessarily on a par with that of South Africa due to lower investment in network infrastructure.
“It is also important to note that network operators in South Africa are facing a network crunch due to the unavailability of high-demand spectrum that will enable MTN to roll out data networks more speedily and expansively and thereby reduce data costs on a bigger scale.”
Cell C spokesperson Candice Jones said the company was continuously revising its pricing structure to meet consumer demands.
“Cell C has been key in driving down the cost to communicate in SA by bringing real competition to the market. In fact, consumers have benefitted massively from this competition as was evidenced in the study commissioned by National Treasury that found that competition to MTN and Vodacom, driven mainly by Cell C, has saved the South African consumer more than R47 billion between 2010 and 2015.
“We continue to offer some of the most competitive data (and voice) rates in the market and today announced another price cut on our data offers.”
Telkom’s Gugulethu Maqethuka said over the years, the company had worked to provide high-quality products targeted at consumers at reduced prices. This, he said, ensured that Telkom drastically reduces the cost to communicate and broaden access to ICT services for the majority of its customers.
“This includes the launch of our game changing product, FreeMe, in July 2017, which cost a third [69c per MB] of what the next lowest operator is charging [R1,75 per MB]. We followed up FreeMe with the launch of FreeMe Family earlier this year, which allows consumers to allocate and share data within their household.”
Meanwhile, Vodacom’s spokesperson Byron Kennedy said: “We embarked on a pricing transformation strategy three years ago and, as a result, our customers have benefitted from a 44% reduction in data prices and a 42% decline in the cost of voice calls over that period. We remain committed to reducing prices and in particular addressing out-of-bundle pricing.”