SA DATA MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IN ITS REGIONAL ECONOMIC RIVALS

MOBILE data in South Africa is more expensive than in regional economic rivals Nigeria and Egypt and compared to regional neighbours Zambia and Malawi, new data showed yesterday, adding weight to growing calls for the country’s telecoms groups such as Vodacom, Cell C and MTN to lower mobile broadband tariffs under the #datamustfall campaign. The #datamustfall campaign has been raging on social media platforms and the Independent Communications South Africa recently intervened by ordering the South African telecoms groups to adjust their data offerings by allowing data roll-over and data transfer. The stats by Cable – a UK analytics and research company – show South Africa’s mobile data costs per 1GB way ahead of prices in Nigeria and Egypt. South Africa and the two African countries have the biggest three economies on the continent. Data released after a study by Cable said the average mobile data tariff for South Africa stands at R101.91 a GB or $7.19. This is in contrast to average mobile internet charges of $1.49 and $2.22 a 1GB in Egypt and Nigeria, respectively. However, mobile telecoms consumers have continued to complain about being asked to purchase more data for roll-over to be effected by some networks. “While Vodacom has backed down from charging consumers for data roll-over, there’s a requirement for the purchase of the same size bundle to enable the roll-over, which prejudices low-income consumers who are not always be able to afford bundles of the same size. #DataMustFall,” tweeted Koketso Moeti this week. Other consumers and experts on telecoms say data is still expensive in South Africa, buttressed by the release of average data pricing stats comparing tariffs in South Africa and other key markets in Africa and the world. Cell C, on Twitter, said the option for roll-over is available for users, highlighting that measures regarding data transfer are meant to protect subscribers. |