Mascom Wireless 4G billing scandal

Mascom which prides itself as an ISO certified for both the Quality and Environment Management and focused on being the leading digital service provider of choice to all users, was in mid- June, caught between a rock and a hard place regarding its inconsistency billing on ‘ some products/ services’ which caused an uproar after a whistleblower threatened to publicly share information on how customers were being robbed by the operator. Recently a whistleblower ( name withheld) indicated that Mascom has been fleecing its customers using 4G system a lot of money through the inconsistency billing in products such as MyTime, Mega Bytes ( MB) and MySocial.

While Mascom has acknowledged the inconsistency, the operator has dismissed claims that customers have been cheated millions of funds as the problem is not old as claimed but recent roughly about two months and only applies to MyTime service. Mascom has since stopped the MyTime product following the discovery of the billing inconsistency. It is alleged that the Data Packages for Mascom subscribers with 4G handsets gets depleted even when their mobile data is off. It is alleged that such billing may have been in existence since the introduction of 4G by Mascom in 2015. Things took a nasty turn when the whistleblower allegedly asked to be paid for identifying the problem or loophole failing which he would expose Mascom for this billing inconsistency by publishing an audio conversation in which the company’s technical team admitted to the problem and promised to investigate the matter. Mascom in turn reported the whistleblower for recording conversations he had with Mascom Technical Team on the matter ‘ without their consent’. Investigations by Botswana Guardian have established that there is a back- and- forth relationship between the whistleblower and Mascom.

After this publication tracked down the whis- t leblower, he explained that he has in the past done some work for Mascom as a Consultant, a claim bluntly denied by Mascom, which said it has no formalised or contractual agreement with him.

The whistleblower denied ever making any monetary demands and resorting to blackmail. In fact, he said he has assisted Mascom in the past and has been rewarded financially, a principle the company says it has never formalised with any customer or stakeholder. The whistleblower, who according to insiders has a working relationship with some Mascom Technical staff and some in the management, alerted Mascom of this anomaly mid last month. The anomaly was investigated and found to be true. “Whatever they said about me is false. Of course I have the recordings and their team confirmed that not only MyTime is affected but even other packages. “They did report me to the police but I have not been charged with anything. I cannot say much about this matter because it is already before the police and will wait for the right time after that to say my side of the story and explain everything,” the whistleblower said. The operator has gone further to accuse the whistleblower of blackmail and extortion. He was reported to Serious Crime Squad for among others harassment of Mascom staff, illegal recording of conversations with the technical team - a case said to be handled by one Sergeant Edward who last week summoned the whistleblower to the police. Mascom Wireless Head of Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Boipelo Matenge warned the whistleblower against publishing of the audio recording threatening legal action should he go ahead. She explained in a letter to the whistleblower that the recordings were obtained illegally and without the consent of Mascom or the Mascom employees, “and therefore are a contravention of their right to privacy. “Your intended publication of these recordings will be a furtherance of this illegality, which advice we are taking action against”.

Contacted for comment, Mascom stated that as a responsible corporate citizen they are committed to keeping their systems, network and products secure. “Despite the measures we take internally, the presence of vulnerabilities will always be possible. Alive to this reality, we augment the internal controls by encouraging external parties, including our customers, to share any inconsistencies they may experience and become aware of whilst utilizing our services. “Our relationship with customers, or any other stakeholder who takes it upon themselves to alert and disclose to us any vulnerabilities, they believe to have discovered, is ad- hoc and not contractual,” Mascom Wireless Chief Communications Officer Tebogo LebotseSebego said in response to Botswana Guardian inquiries. She said as a principle, Mascom does not compensate for identifying potential or confirmed vulnerabilities. Lebotse- Sebego said they discourage requests for a reward, particularly before Mascom has determined the validity of a vulnerability claim. According to her, once they have received an alert of a potential vulnerability, they act swiftly to investigate. “If we discover that the vulnerability reported is valid and was unknown to us, we may decide to offer a reward. In line to this principle of Vulnerability Disclosure, one of our customers recently made us aware of a billing inconsistency on our 4G service. “Upon investigation and verification of this disclosure, we determined that; the billing inconsistency is a recent occurrence; the billing inconsistency is limited to the MyTime service, when subscribers access MyTime using 4G; and no other data service or package is affected,” said Lebotse- Sebego. She added that in response Mascom has advised affected customers who have recently utilised the MyTime service of this billing inconsistency. The operator says it has temporarily suspended the MyTime service offer and industry Regulator, Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority ( BOCRA), has also been duly notified, as per the regulatory requirements. “We are aware of unlawful recordings made of conversations with our employees and threats to release these in the public domain, should Mascom not meet certain monetary demands. “It is Mascom’s position that, the unlawful recordings and subsequent threats, are intended to extort and blackmail Mascom, something the company will not condone. Aside from the fact that the recordings are illegal, the claims made as purported by the individual in question are false and misleading disinformation, which is intended to tarnish Mascom reputation,” the communications boss said and assured that they shall engage the affected MyTime users accordingly once they have full information on the inconsistency. Efforts to get a comment from Botswana Police Public Relations Unit were futile as Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube said they are not in office. Motube said they would only be available in office today ( Friday) and that is when they can be able to give feedback on the matter. BOCRA Broadcasting and Corporate Communications Director Aaron Nyelesi dismissed claims that Mascom has made any report or notification to the regulator. “Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority ( BOCRA) confirms that it has not received any report of billing inconsistencies from Mascom,” said Nyelesi who said in that regard the regulator cannot state when Mascom made the report and with regards to which product/ service. “When any billing complaints are reported by consumers to service providers, the service providers are required to resolve the complaint to the satisfaction of the customer. “Where there is an impasse between the two parties in the process of resolving such a complaint, the customer is at liberty to escalate the matter to BOCRA for intervention.

“The Handling Procedure and Enforcement Guidelines can be found on the BOCRA website and they set out the manner and form in which the complaints must be made, the processes that will ensue thereafter and the measures the Authority may take to address or resolve the complaint,” Nyelesi explained.