TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Google’s giant Equiano Internet cable has landed in South Africa

      8 August 2022

      The African tech start-ups eyeing global markets

      8 August 2022

      Karpowership loses bid to overturn environmental ruling

      8 August 2022

      New app launched to tackle potholes in South Africa

      8 August 2022

      Rogue database felled Capitec in its worst-ever IT outage

      7 August 2022
    • World

      Nvidia issues profit warning on slump in demand for graphics cards

      8 August 2022

      Buterin: Mining on Ethereum Classic won’t affect Merge

      8 August 2022

      Musk challenges Twitter CEO to a public debate

      7 August 2022

      Amazon splashes $1.7-billion on Roomba maker iRobot

      5 August 2022

      Nigeria asks Google to block banned groups from YouTube

      5 August 2022
    • In-depth

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022

      Webb telescope’s stunning images of the cosmos

      12 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022

      Demystifying the complexity of AI – fact vs fiction

      6 July 2022

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022
    • Opinion

      SIU seeks to set aside R215-million IT tender

      19 July 2022

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Opinion»Jose Dos Santos»Vodacom, MTN at war with consumers

    Vodacom, MTN at war with consumers

    Jose Dos Santos By Jose Dos Santos19 January 2016
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    jose-dos-santos-180MTN and Vodacom have declared war on consumer interests. The infamous duopoly wants to limit how we use Internet services like WhatsApp — and it has nothing to do with fairness, competition or the future of South Africa. To the contrary, it is all about maintaining their stranglehold on a vital artery feeding our country’s economic and social future.

    The two mobile networks have now successfully lobbied government to investigate potentially regulating over-the-top (OTT) services like WhatsApp. I suppose it was inevitable. Vodacom, for example, has said: “You have these [OTT] players which are getting huge benefit out of an industry without making any investment. It has also said: “Operators need to continue making a return.”

    MTN has been less diplomatic. Former MTN South Africa CEO Ahmad Farroukh was quoted as saying that MTN was not prepared to spend billions of dollars building networks just so that OTT players can get a “free ride”. His successor, Mteto Nyati agrees: “You have to regulate them because clearly they’re making a huge amount of revenue on top of the infrastructure that the operators have paid for. Somehow they have to contribute towards the building of this infrastructure.”

    Suddenly they are concerned with “levelling the playing fields” – but only now, when they face competition.

    Regulation itself is not necessarily a bad thing and South African telecoms regulation could definitely use a little modernisation. We need to ask serious questions about privacy, consumer rights and infrastructure sharing to reduce costs. But in this case, that is not Vodacom or MTN’s aim. Instead they are hoping to confuse the issue, rather than sticking to clear, reasonable arguments.

    Regulation would impose new costs, costs that would either prompt OTT players to withdraw their services from South Africa or push up prices for the consumer, the very consumer that already pays for the data to use those services.

    It is not hard to imagine the motivation of MTN and Vodacom, as both have historically resisted any attempt to “level the playing field” in the mobile industry. They have fought number porting and the elimination of interconnect fees. These are companies that have shown no interest in the welfare of the customers who keep them in business.

    We believe that OTT services encourage consumers to participate more. The more they participate, the more they spend. Cell C is still a business and must make money. But good companies adapt and change to create new opportunities for themselves and their customers. Bad companies manipulate the system to only get what they want — the customer doesn’t matter.

    Over-the-top services should not be regulated, argues the writer
    Over-the-top services should not be regulated, argues the writer

    I invite South Africans to interrogate the motivations of companies that would support this kind of regulation.

    Connectivity is key to the welfare of a 21st century nation. These platforms empower individuals and communities. They allow people to connect and be part of a global community. Now think of all the conversations we have every day on Facebook, WhatsApp, Google Talk, Skype, WeChat and more. Consider the many services such as Gmail, Office 365, Sage accounting and so on that allow small business to start and flourish.

    OTT regulation will force extra costs on those services or force their withdrawal. It will hurt consumers and small companies. It will disadvantage everyone — everyone except the networks whose only interest resides in protecting their revenues.

    Cell C has proven that by opting for partnerships instead of bullying, you can work alongside OTT services to the benefit of everyone. We offered free WhatsApp services for a year, during which Cell C customers did not spend any data to send messages. Since we have transformed this into a low R5/month offer and opened our free services to include Facebook.

    As a consequence, we have not lost customers. We have grown and those customers have grown as well. They are more connected and informed, but without needing to pay more for the privilege. No, not privilege. It’s a right. It is not fair that those with a voice are only those who can afford to have one.

    As I said in the beginning, regulation of the telecoms space is a conversation that should happen. But what MTN, Vodacom and their collaborators are trying to do is not address the big issue. They simply want to protect what they have and they are happy to sell the consumer out in order to get that.

    As it stands, Cell C does not support OTT regulation in South Africa, because the only losers will be the people whose money make us all successful businesses in the first place.

    • Jose Dos Santos is CEO of Cell C
    Ahmad Farroukh Cell C Jose dos Santos MTN Vodacom WhatsApp
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleMTN Nigeria set to post R15,9bn profit
    Next Article 400 applicants for Cape Town accelerator

    Related Posts

    Solidarity, MTN in war of words over restructuring

    5 August 2022

    MTN’s big fight against ‘revenge crime’ at its base stations

    3 August 2022

    Telkom nears a million homes passed with fibre

    2 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    You don’t need a call centre to take advantage of call centre technology

    5 August 2022

    Black man, you are still on your own

    5 August 2022

    UC&C interoperability offers businesses operational cost relief in tough times

    4 August 2022
    Opinion

    SIU seeks to set aside R215-million IT tender

    19 July 2022

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.