Vodacom has been been ordered to pay a politically connected fixer $21-million (R159-million) this week by a court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but the episode could end up costing the mobile operator almost twice that amount. On the phone from Kinshasa this week, Moto Mabanga, the South African based fixer who was awarded the money by the court, said he reserved the right to go after the $19.6-million (R149-million) he felt he was still owed.
The Mail & Guardian initially reported on the dispute between Mabanga’s company, Namemco Energy, and Vodacom in August 2010. At the time, Mabanga, who consulted in the DRC for Vodacom, was suing the mobile conglomerate for R396-million in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg. The amount related to consulting work Mabanga did for Vodacom in the DRC between May 6 and July 31 2007 and September 12 2007 and August 31 2008. The disputed amount of $40.8-million relates to a “success fee” that Mabanga claimed was negotiated between himself and Vodacom.
According to the consultancy agreements between Vodacom and Namemco Energy, Mabanga was tasked with advising Vodacom on economic, sociopolitical and security conditions in the DRC, providing advice and assistance on “government relations issues” in the the country, advising and assisting in the relationship between Vodacom and its DRC partner, Congolese Wireless Network (CWN), ensuring that Vodacom’s DRC staff were safe and not harassed or obstructed from doing their jobs, identifying parties interested in buying CWN’s 49% shareholding in Vodacom Congo and securing visas for Vodacom staff to enter the DRC.
This week Mabanga said he had had to change his course of action, switching his legal challenge from South Africa to the DRC, after he heard about a year ago that Vodacom was seeking to sell off its business interest in the DRC. “If it had sold its 51% in Vodacom DRC, it would have been difficult for me to recoup the money I was owed,” said Mabanga. “So we went to court in the DRC to attach 5% of its shareholding in Vodacom DRC.”
In April last year, the high court in Kinshasa ruled that Vodacom had to provisionally place shares to the value of $40.8-million in an escrow account. In January this year, the court in Kinshasa awarded a reduced claim of $21-million to Mabanga, against which Vodacom lodged an appeal for a stay of execution. The appeal was dismissed this week, paving the way for Vodacom to pay Mabanga the $21-million.
Asked to comment, Richard Boorman, Vodacom’s head of corporate affairs, said: “We have not yet received the full judgment on the ... matter. Once we have the relevant documentation, we will decide on an appropriate course of action.” When the initial judgment was handed down in January, Vodacom released a statement that it would object to a ruling by a DRC court, a move that Mabanga insists shows the company’s lack of respect for the DRC’s judicial system.
The Vodacom statement issued by Boorman at the time said: “We would clearly have material objections to any judgment by a Democratic Republic of Congo court in which a monetary award was granted to Namemco while the contractual dispute is currently being heard in court in South Africa, which has jurisdiction on the issue.”
Vodacom’s objections stemmed from the fact that its contract with Namemco Energy stipulated that any dispute would be decided under South African law.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Showing posts with label Vodacom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vodacom. Show all posts
Friday, March 16, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Vodacom’s BlackBerry data hog problem solved?
Vodacom incurred the wrath of consumers last year when it said it planned to throttle the data speeds of BlackBerry subscribers who used more than 100MB/month after some users were found to be downloading 100GB or more a month. Now, Vodacom says BlackBerry maker, Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM), has found a solution.
A Vodacom spokesman says it has developed a solution with RIM that “allows the management and control of users, applications and protocols that perform actions outside of the BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) terms and conditions”. BIS offers BlackBerry users unlimited on-device data use for a low and fixed monthly fee and has been one of the main reasons BlackBerry smartphones have proved so popular in SA, especially in the youth market. But BIS has also proved problematic for Vodacom and other operators because tech-savvy users have figured out how to download large files like movies and transfer these off their BlackBerrys. They’ve also figured out how to tether their phones to computers and run their data connections 24 hours a day.
Vodacom maintains only a small number of users is responsible for this but said last year that one BlackBerry user had managed to get through a staggering 310GB in one month. Vodacom’s response was to warn BlackBerry subscribers that it would throttle those who downloaded large amounts of data to 2G speeds, but this provoked a storm of outrage, prompting the company to backtrack on the threat.
The operator says the solution that it has developed with Research in Motion is being tested and will be deployed “shortly”. However, it won’t provide more information about how the solution works. When approached for comment on Wednesday, Research in Motion wasn’t able to comment on the solution it has developed with Vodacom.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
A Vodacom spokesman says it has developed a solution with RIM that “allows the management and control of users, applications and protocols that perform actions outside of the BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) terms and conditions”. BIS offers BlackBerry users unlimited on-device data use for a low and fixed monthly fee and has been one of the main reasons BlackBerry smartphones have proved so popular in SA, especially in the youth market. But BIS has also proved problematic for Vodacom and other operators because tech-savvy users have figured out how to download large files like movies and transfer these off their BlackBerrys. They’ve also figured out how to tether their phones to computers and run their data connections 24 hours a day.
Vodacom maintains only a small number of users is responsible for this but said last year that one BlackBerry user had managed to get through a staggering 310GB in one month. Vodacom’s response was to warn BlackBerry subscribers that it would throttle those who downloaded large amounts of data to 2G speeds, but this provoked a storm of outrage, prompting the company to backtrack on the threat.
The operator says the solution that it has developed with Research in Motion is being tested and will be deployed “shortly”. However, it won’t provide more information about how the solution works. When approached for comment on Wednesday, Research in Motion wasn’t able to comment on the solution it has developed with Vodacom.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Why ANC’s policy reboot is flawed
The ANC has proposed a sweeping overhaul of policy governing SA’s technology sector. For the most part, the proposals are reasonably business-friendly and should be welcomed. But the lingering conviction that state intervention will ensure the delivery of services to all is still a cause for concern.
The proposals, contained in one of a series of hefty discussion documents released this week ahead of the party’s national policy conference in June, generally make for pretty good reading. Clearly, a lot of thought has gone into identifying the challenges facing the sector and what needs to be done to ensure all South Africans get access to high-speed broadband and the benefits that access brings, including a faster-growing economy. The ruling party must be commended for identifying the requirement for greater competition in the sector and the need to expand the number of players with access to scarce radio frequency spectrum to deliver next-generation broadband services. It’s a surprisingly centrist policy position paper (with a few exceptions) for a party that leans well to the left in the political spectrum.
In other respects, though, the discussion document is rather naive, in that it ignores the role that well-financed incumbent operators — such as MTN, Telkom, Vodacom and Cell C — can play in building the next-generation networks that will expand access to more South Africans. In deference no doubt to its socialist alliance partners, it’s also silent on the pressing need to privatise Telkom fully, to free its management team from the dead hand of the state that limits its ability to restructure itself meaningfully in a competitive market. Rather, it talks about setting up a second Telkom (my choice of words) by merging two lame-duck state-owned enterprises, Sentech and Broadband Infraco. This focus on state-owned enterprises spoils what is otherwise a fairly well-argued overview of the challenges facing the sector and how to grow it.
Neither Sentech nor Infraco deserves the special attention they enjoy in the document. Both have failed to prove their raison d’être. Sentech’s previous effort at building a broadband network was so spectacularly unsuccessful that it should never be given another chance to screw it up and waste taxpayers’ money. And Infraco, the brainchild of that misguided communist and former cabinet minister Alec Erwin, admits freely that the company is struggling to remain competitive where private-sector players are undercutting its prices. Infraco’s assets should be sold off to the highest bidder.
Public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba would do the country a favour by flogging off Infraco to a company that can make more efficient use of its infrastructure. It’s unfortunate, then, that privatisation is anathema to Gigaba, who appears more interested in building a political power base through an ever-expanding role for the state-owned enterprises in his portfolio.
The ANC’s discussion paper should be lauded for proposing that spectrum allocations — especially in the important 800MHz and 2,6GHz frequency bands that will be used for fourth-generation mobile broadband services — will be used to foster new infrastructure competition in the sector. But the party is placing a little too much emphasis on encouraging new players into the infrastructure game without asking who will invest the billions of rand needed. Though fostering competition is laudable, the ANC should remember it’s the incumbent operators that have the financial and technical ability to build these networks. Excluding them from the process could ultimately do more damage than good. Balance is imperative.
That said, the discussion paper is an important step forward. At the very least, it deserves rigorous interrogation and debate.
Source: TechCentral
The proposals, contained in one of a series of hefty discussion documents released this week ahead of the party’s national policy conference in June, generally make for pretty good reading. Clearly, a lot of thought has gone into identifying the challenges facing the sector and what needs to be done to ensure all South Africans get access to high-speed broadband and the benefits that access brings, including a faster-growing economy. The ruling party must be commended for identifying the requirement for greater competition in the sector and the need to expand the number of players with access to scarce radio frequency spectrum to deliver next-generation broadband services. It’s a surprisingly centrist policy position paper (with a few exceptions) for a party that leans well to the left in the political spectrum.
In other respects, though, the discussion document is rather naive, in that it ignores the role that well-financed incumbent operators — such as MTN, Telkom, Vodacom and Cell C — can play in building the next-generation networks that will expand access to more South Africans. In deference no doubt to its socialist alliance partners, it’s also silent on the pressing need to privatise Telkom fully, to free its management team from the dead hand of the state that limits its ability to restructure itself meaningfully in a competitive market. Rather, it talks about setting up a second Telkom (my choice of words) by merging two lame-duck state-owned enterprises, Sentech and Broadband Infraco. This focus on state-owned enterprises spoils what is otherwise a fairly well-argued overview of the challenges facing the sector and how to grow it.
Neither Sentech nor Infraco deserves the special attention they enjoy in the document. Both have failed to prove their raison d’être. Sentech’s previous effort at building a broadband network was so spectacularly unsuccessful that it should never be given another chance to screw it up and waste taxpayers’ money. And Infraco, the brainchild of that misguided communist and former cabinet minister Alec Erwin, admits freely that the company is struggling to remain competitive where private-sector players are undercutting its prices. Infraco’s assets should be sold off to the highest bidder.
Public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba would do the country a favour by flogging off Infraco to a company that can make more efficient use of its infrastructure. It’s unfortunate, then, that privatisation is anathema to Gigaba, who appears more interested in building a political power base through an ever-expanding role for the state-owned enterprises in his portfolio.
The ANC’s discussion paper should be lauded for proposing that spectrum allocations — especially in the important 800MHz and 2,6GHz frequency bands that will be used for fourth-generation mobile broadband services — will be used to foster new infrastructure competition in the sector. But the party is placing a little too much emphasis on encouraging new players into the infrastructure game without asking who will invest the billions of rand needed. Though fostering competition is laudable, the ANC should remember it’s the incumbent operators that have the financial and technical ability to build these networks. Excluding them from the process could ultimately do more damage than good. Balance is imperative.
That said, the discussion paper is an important step forward. At the very least, it deserves rigorous interrogation and debate.
Source: TechCentral
Friday, February 24, 2012
8ta struggles in competitive market
Earlier this week, Blue Label Telecoms, the largest distributor of prepaid vouchers and airtime in SA, revealed that 8ta accounts for well under 1% of its airtime revenues. Vodacom, MTN and Cell C contribute 53%, 34% and 10% respectively.
There was little doubt 8ta, which was launched in 2010 after Telkom disposed of its 50% stake in Vodacom, would have an uphill battle gaining market share. With the Vodacom and MTN brands so deeply entrenched in consumers’ minds, and with Cell C pouring hundreds of millions of rand into marketing its new corporate brand and network, it was never going to be an easy ride.
The market is mature, especially on the voice side, meaning 8ta would have to lure consumers across from the other networks. With a more limited coverage map and a marketing budget much smaller than its bigger rivals, it was always going to be tough going. That 8ta is falling short of Telkom’s expectations is no secret. But can SA’s fourth mobile network make any meaningful impact in SA telecoms in the long term?
Irnest Kaplan, MD at Kaplan Equity Analysts, says it’s not necessarily a case of 8ta doing anything wrong, but “more of a function of the time at which it entered the market”. He says consumers often forget that there are networks beyond Vodacom and MTN and that even Cell C has only recently begun to get traction in the minds of the general public. Aside from the problems of brand awareness, Kaplan says 8ta has had problems with distribution and that while this is normal for a newcomer, MTN and Vodacom have had “many years to build deep distribution networks that go right down to the rural level”.
With the SA cellular market so saturated, 8ta has to look to churn — customers leaving other networks — for customers. “8ta has to offer a really compelling reason to switch, particularly for the high-spending segment of the market. Most customers won’t switch for a 10% discount on calls.” The other problem 8ta faces is that it’s part of Telkom, and for many consumers that leaves a bad taste, Kaplan says. That connection alone will have some consumers assuming 8ta’s network isn’t as good as its competitors’. “Even low-end subscribers worry about the same thing.”
Kaplan says Telkom’s early predictions of capturing 15% of the SA mobile market are not only far too optimistic — as of September 2011 the company claimed 1,9% — but “those types of projections don’t say what kind of 15% share. Will it be the low-end of the income scale or the high-end? And if it’s a mixture, what portion is accounted for by which segment?”
8ta has said it hoped to leverage Telkom’s fixed-line serves by offering converged services, which suggests the move into mobile may be more defensive than an active assault on MTN and Vodacom, according to Kaplan. Denis Smit, MD at BMI-TechKnowledge, says Telkom recently began recruiting for a new mobile MD when many thought senior managing executive Amith Maharaj was tipped for the position. Smit says this suggests the board wants stronger and more decisive leadership.
Though 8ta has engaged in aggressive pricing in an effort to win customers, Brian Neilson, research director and head of telecoms consulting at BMI-T, says Cell C has been similarly aggressive, even before 8ta’s entry to the market, and that Vodacom and MTN have gone some way to responding to 8ta’s offerings “which dilutes their effect”. While an active subscriber base of 1,1m isn’t to be scoffed at, and 8ta certainly reached the 1m milestone in less time than it took Cell C, what is worrying is that of these subscribers more than 882 000 are prepaid users, and the average revenue per prepaid user in Telkom’s last set of financial results in September 2011 was R20,47. This is a fraction of the figures enjoyed by its rivals.
8ta has been very aggressive in its pricing and in its marketing campaigns, but the question is how long it can keep pouring money into building market share. It will have to keep investing in advertising and promotions and needs to do this before it can even consider trying to improve average revenues per user. Also, it’s going to have to work hard to win over the big spenders, because most of the people going to 8ta at present are clearly those looking for deals, and these are also often the most price-sensitive users who are just as likely to leave when there’s a better offer elsewhere.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
There was little doubt 8ta, which was launched in 2010 after Telkom disposed of its 50% stake in Vodacom, would have an uphill battle gaining market share. With the Vodacom and MTN brands so deeply entrenched in consumers’ minds, and with Cell C pouring hundreds of millions of rand into marketing its new corporate brand and network, it was never going to be an easy ride.
The market is mature, especially on the voice side, meaning 8ta would have to lure consumers across from the other networks. With a more limited coverage map and a marketing budget much smaller than its bigger rivals, it was always going to be tough going. That 8ta is falling short of Telkom’s expectations is no secret. But can SA’s fourth mobile network make any meaningful impact in SA telecoms in the long term?
Irnest Kaplan, MD at Kaplan Equity Analysts, says it’s not necessarily a case of 8ta doing anything wrong, but “more of a function of the time at which it entered the market”. He says consumers often forget that there are networks beyond Vodacom and MTN and that even Cell C has only recently begun to get traction in the minds of the general public. Aside from the problems of brand awareness, Kaplan says 8ta has had problems with distribution and that while this is normal for a newcomer, MTN and Vodacom have had “many years to build deep distribution networks that go right down to the rural level”.
With the SA cellular market so saturated, 8ta has to look to churn — customers leaving other networks — for customers. “8ta has to offer a really compelling reason to switch, particularly for the high-spending segment of the market. Most customers won’t switch for a 10% discount on calls.” The other problem 8ta faces is that it’s part of Telkom, and for many consumers that leaves a bad taste, Kaplan says. That connection alone will have some consumers assuming 8ta’s network isn’t as good as its competitors’. “Even low-end subscribers worry about the same thing.”
Kaplan says Telkom’s early predictions of capturing 15% of the SA mobile market are not only far too optimistic — as of September 2011 the company claimed 1,9% — but “those types of projections don’t say what kind of 15% share. Will it be the low-end of the income scale or the high-end? And if it’s a mixture, what portion is accounted for by which segment?”
8ta has said it hoped to leverage Telkom’s fixed-line serves by offering converged services, which suggests the move into mobile may be more defensive than an active assault on MTN and Vodacom, according to Kaplan. Denis Smit, MD at BMI-TechKnowledge, says Telkom recently began recruiting for a new mobile MD when many thought senior managing executive Amith Maharaj was tipped for the position. Smit says this suggests the board wants stronger and more decisive leadership.
Though 8ta has engaged in aggressive pricing in an effort to win customers, Brian Neilson, research director and head of telecoms consulting at BMI-T, says Cell C has been similarly aggressive, even before 8ta’s entry to the market, and that Vodacom and MTN have gone some way to responding to 8ta’s offerings “which dilutes their effect”. While an active subscriber base of 1,1m isn’t to be scoffed at, and 8ta certainly reached the 1m milestone in less time than it took Cell C, what is worrying is that of these subscribers more than 882 000 are prepaid users, and the average revenue per prepaid user in Telkom’s last set of financial results in September 2011 was R20,47. This is a fraction of the figures enjoyed by its rivals.
8ta has been very aggressive in its pricing and in its marketing campaigns, but the question is how long it can keep pouring money into building market share. It will have to keep investing in advertising and promotions and needs to do this before it can even consider trying to improve average revenues per user. Also, it’s going to have to work hard to win over the big spenders, because most of the people going to 8ta at present are clearly those looking for deals, and these are also often the most price-sensitive users who are just as likely to leave when there’s a better offer elsewhere.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Strong data growth propels Vodacom revenues higher
Strong growth in demand for data, where revenues have risen by 23,8% in the past year, has helped propel the Vodacom Group’s total sales higher by 12,2% to R18bn in the third quarter of its financial year to 31 December 2011.
The JSE-listed telecommunications operator, which is controlled by the UK’s Vodafone, has reported a 41,2% increase in active data customers to 13,8m. In SA, revenues were up by 7,6% on customer growth of 25,4%, to 31,7m. The SA business added 2,8m subscribers in the three-month period. Group subscribers number now above the 52m mark, growing by 5m in the quarter.
CEO Pieter Uys says the SA business “defied the somewhat gloomy economic conditions”. He credits this to its summer advertising campaigns, targeted promotions and attractive handset deals. Interestingly, growth was strong in rural areas. “The strong growth in customers and data usage helped offset the year-to-date reduction of 16% in both voice and data prices,” Uys says.
Average revenue per user in SA was down 14,6% to R140, largely as a result of lower termination rates — the fees operators charge each other to carry calls onto their networks — and a higher prevalence of lower usage customers in the mix. It expects a seasonal increase in churn in the coming quarters from currently low levels.
Though active data customers in SA climbed by 31,5% to 11,4m, revenue growth was up by a slower 19,3%, to R1,9bn, as a result of price reductions. Demand for smartphones remained strong, with 655 000 devices activated in the three-month period. Vodacom SA now has 4,8m active smartphone users on its networks, accounting for 18% of all devices.
International operations accounted for more than 40% of the increase in subscriber numbers. Data revenue outside SA leapt by 135,4% because of strong demand for data and mobile financial services. M-Pesa has enjoyed solid support in Tanzania, with 2,7m active customers representing 23,4% of the base. M-Pesa now acccounts for 8,5% of service revenue in Tanzania, Vodacom’s second biggest market after SA, and processed US$400m worth of transactions in December.
Vodacom’s share price was trading mostly flat shortly after the release of the quarterly update.
Download Vodacom’s full third-quarter trading statement here (PDF file).
Source: — Staff reporter, TechCentral
The JSE-listed telecommunications operator, which is controlled by the UK’s Vodafone, has reported a 41,2% increase in active data customers to 13,8m. In SA, revenues were up by 7,6% on customer growth of 25,4%, to 31,7m. The SA business added 2,8m subscribers in the three-month period. Group subscribers number now above the 52m mark, growing by 5m in the quarter.
CEO Pieter Uys says the SA business “defied the somewhat gloomy economic conditions”. He credits this to its summer advertising campaigns, targeted promotions and attractive handset deals. Interestingly, growth was strong in rural areas. “The strong growth in customers and data usage helped offset the year-to-date reduction of 16% in both voice and data prices,” Uys says.
Average revenue per user in SA was down 14,6% to R140, largely as a result of lower termination rates — the fees operators charge each other to carry calls onto their networks — and a higher prevalence of lower usage customers in the mix. It expects a seasonal increase in churn in the coming quarters from currently low levels.
Though active data customers in SA climbed by 31,5% to 11,4m, revenue growth was up by a slower 19,3%, to R1,9bn, as a result of price reductions. Demand for smartphones remained strong, with 655 000 devices activated in the three-month period. Vodacom SA now has 4,8m active smartphone users on its networks, accounting for 18% of all devices.
International operations accounted for more than 40% of the increase in subscriber numbers. Data revenue outside SA leapt by 135,4% because of strong demand for data and mobile financial services. M-Pesa has enjoyed solid support in Tanzania, with 2,7m active customers representing 23,4% of the base. M-Pesa now acccounts for 8,5% of service revenue in Tanzania, Vodacom’s second biggest market after SA, and processed US$400m worth of transactions in December.
Vodacom’s share price was trading mostly flat shortly after the release of the quarterly update.
Download Vodacom’s full third-quarter trading statement here (PDF file).
Source: — Staff reporter, TechCentral
Monday, February 6, 2012
Vodacom cuts data prices
Vodacom has cut data prices with a pair of new contract data promotions. The operator is offering all new and existing subscribers the option to sign up for one of two 24-month data packages, a 1GB or 2GB plan priced at R99/month and R149/month respectively.
The Broadband Standard MyGig 1 entails a 24-month contract and usually costs R249/month, while the MyGig 2 offering costs R149, from R349/month previously.
After the initial contract period, the plans can be renewed or will continue on a month-to-month basis at what is then the prevailing rate.
The promotional offer includes a free modem and normal out-of-bundle rates apply.
Existing contract data subscribers will not enjoy the new rates as they are subject to the terms and pricing of their existing contracts. After 6 May, pricing will revert to the previous rates.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
The Broadband Standard MyGig 1 entails a 24-month contract and usually costs R249/month, while the MyGig 2 offering costs R149, from R349/month previously.
After the initial contract period, the plans can be renewed or will continue on a month-to-month basis at what is then the prevailing rate.
The promotional offer includes a free modem and normal out-of-bundle rates apply.
Existing contract data subscribers will not enjoy the new rates as they are subject to the terms and pricing of their existing contracts. After 6 May, pricing will revert to the previous rates.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
Monday, January 23, 2012
Consumer probe unlawful – MTN
An investigation by the National Consumer Commission into MTN’s subscriber agreements and service quality was unlawful, the cellular operator argued before the National Consumer Tribunal on Friday. It also said a compliance notice issued to MTN by the consumer watchdog was sent to the wrong party. The hearing is the first under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which was implemented in April last year.
MTN is challenging a compliance order notice it received compelling it to amend its subscriber agreements and align its practices with the act. The commission has asked for a fine of 10 percent of MTN’s 2011 turnover if it is found guilty of contravening sections of the act.
Robby Coelho, a partner at law firm Webber Wentzel representing MTN, said the commission had acted beyond the powers granted by the act and therefore its investigation was unlawful. MTN said the commission had ruled against it based on an incorrect and outdated subscriber agreement even though it had implemented a new CPA-compliant contract.
Mamodupi Mohlala, the national consumer commissioner, said at the time the notice was issued in August that MTN’s amended customer contract was not yet in effect, which it should have been from April 1. Mohlala said the new contract still did not comply with section 63 of the act because it did not guarantee quality of service targets and make pricing transparent.
Advocate Alfred Cockerill, representing MTN, argued that the commission had incorrectly issued the compliance notice to MTN instead of MTN Service Provider. “If we are correct, and we believe we are, then that’s the end of the matter. The entire compliance notice (would be) invalid,” Coelho said.
Mohlala said, however, that MTN, the mother body, was licensed to provide telecoms services and not its subsidiary, MTN Service Provider, and if the latter was reprimanded then “the consumer doesn’t have recourse”. “We have also noted, in terms of their contract provision of network services, the subsidiary is not licensed to provide network services,” she said.
The tribunal did not specify a date for judgment. Hearings have also been set for other companies, including Vodacom, Cell C and TopTV.
Source: madeasy.co.za
MTN is challenging a compliance order notice it received compelling it to amend its subscriber agreements and align its practices with the act. The commission has asked for a fine of 10 percent of MTN’s 2011 turnover if it is found guilty of contravening sections of the act.
Robby Coelho, a partner at law firm Webber Wentzel representing MTN, said the commission had acted beyond the powers granted by the act and therefore its investigation was unlawful. MTN said the commission had ruled against it based on an incorrect and outdated subscriber agreement even though it had implemented a new CPA-compliant contract.
Mamodupi Mohlala, the national consumer commissioner, said at the time the notice was issued in August that MTN’s amended customer contract was not yet in effect, which it should have been from April 1. Mohlala said the new contract still did not comply with section 63 of the act because it did not guarantee quality of service targets and make pricing transparent.
Advocate Alfred Cockerill, representing MTN, argued that the commission had incorrectly issued the compliance notice to MTN instead of MTN Service Provider. “If we are correct, and we believe we are, then that’s the end of the matter. The entire compliance notice (would be) invalid,” Coelho said.
Mohlala said, however, that MTN, the mother body, was licensed to provide telecoms services and not its subsidiary, MTN Service Provider, and if the latter was reprimanded then “the consumer doesn’t have recourse”. “We have also noted, in terms of their contract provision of network services, the subsidiary is not licensed to provide network services,” she said.
The tribunal did not specify a date for judgment. Hearings have also been set for other companies, including Vodacom, Cell C and TopTV.
Source: madeasy.co.za
Friday, January 20, 2012
Google puts small companies online
TECHNOLOGY group Google, cellphone company Vodacom and the Department of Trade and Industry have joined forces in a project aimed at placing 10000 small and medium businesses on the internet for free.
The initiative, launched in Pretoria yesterday, provides a boost to the government’s efforts to reduce unemployment by encouraging entrepreneurs to start new businesses, as outlined in the New Growth Path, which aims to create 5-million jobs between 2011 and 2020. The main partners are joined by advisory body the Human Resource Development Council in offering Woza Online, a website service that enables businesses to create websites for free. The websites are also hosted for free. Hosting and possible domain fees will be covered by Google and Vodacom.
Luke McKend, Google’s country manager for SA, said the company had decided it could contribute to the economy and help small and medium companies reach more customers through Woza Online, particularly those that had not previously had a presence on the internet.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, who was present at the website’s launch, said even though 65% of small and medium businesses in SA had websites, the 35% that did not amounted to hundreds of thousands of companies. "As much as 79% of those businesses with websites are profitable, while only 59% of those without, are profitable," he said.
Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Elizabeth Thabethe said the initiative recognised the importance of small businesses for SA’s economy. "As many as 2,8-million small and medium-sized enterprises contributed about 55% to SA’s gross domestic product last year. They also provide employment for young people and women. Therefore, my department welcomes what Google and the other partners are trying to do," she said.
Up to 50% of youth aged 15-25 are unemployed in SA yet a report released by the South African Institute of Race Relations this week said the number of established owner-manager businesses in SA remained below the world average. Based on the 2010 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the reports said SA’s average new business ownership was 2,5% in 2009. The average for the 60 countries surveyed was 17,1%. The percentage referred to people in the 18-64 age group who were owner-managers of new businesses. This meant they owned and managed a business that had paid salaries, wages or any other payments for more than three months, but not more than 42 months.
Given data released by Statistics SA, about 343000 jobs were made in the first three quarters of last year. According to Adcorp Employment data, 397000 jobs were added last year.
Source: Business Day
The initiative, launched in Pretoria yesterday, provides a boost to the government’s efforts to reduce unemployment by encouraging entrepreneurs to start new businesses, as outlined in the New Growth Path, which aims to create 5-million jobs between 2011 and 2020. The main partners are joined by advisory body the Human Resource Development Council in offering Woza Online, a website service that enables businesses to create websites for free. The websites are also hosted for free. Hosting and possible domain fees will be covered by Google and Vodacom.
Luke McKend, Google’s country manager for SA, said the company had decided it could contribute to the economy and help small and medium companies reach more customers through Woza Online, particularly those that had not previously had a presence on the internet.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, who was present at the website’s launch, said even though 65% of small and medium businesses in SA had websites, the 35% that did not amounted to hundreds of thousands of companies. "As much as 79% of those businesses with websites are profitable, while only 59% of those without, are profitable," he said.
Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Elizabeth Thabethe said the initiative recognised the importance of small businesses for SA’s economy. "As many as 2,8-million small and medium-sized enterprises contributed about 55% to SA’s gross domestic product last year. They also provide employment for young people and women. Therefore, my department welcomes what Google and the other partners are trying to do," she said.
Up to 50% of youth aged 15-25 are unemployed in SA yet a report released by the South African Institute of Race Relations this week said the number of established owner-manager businesses in SA remained below the world average. Based on the 2010 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the reports said SA’s average new business ownership was 2,5% in 2009. The average for the 60 countries surveyed was 17,1%. The percentage referred to people in the 18-64 age group who were owner-managers of new businesses. This meant they owned and managed a business that had paid salaries, wages or any other payments for more than three months, but not more than 42 months.
Given data released by Statistics SA, about 343000 jobs were made in the first three quarters of last year. According to Adcorp Employment data, 397000 jobs were added last year.
Source: Business Day
Monday, October 17, 2011
No hope for 'crashed' Blackberry users
A LEGAL expert believes that BlackBerry users are unlikely to find consumer protection as underlined by national consumer commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala last week. The crash of the phone's e-mail and messenger services began last Monday, affecting users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, and spreading to North America by Tuesday. Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind BlackBerry smartphones said the problem was sorted on Thursday.
Commissioner Mohlala said consumers would find protection under sections 55, 56 and 61 of the Consumer Protection Act, which provides rights on the quality of goods, and liability for damage caused by goods.
However, Albert Aukema, associate in the competition practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr underlined the difference between goods and services, saying the outage was a services issue. "Although the scope of these sections have yet to be interpreted by the courts, it is unlikely that such a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the CPA. "If anything, the interruptions should accurately be categorised as impacting on the quality of the service being rendered to consumers," said Aukema. "The interruption appears to have been unrelated to defects in the handsets supplied to consumers as part of the service offering."
Meanwhile, a number of SA-based mobile operators (MTN R10 to each customer and Vodacom 20 minutes of calls and 20 SMS's on Vodacom to Vodacom service) moved to provide some form of compensation to BlackBerry customers, "as a token of goodwill".
Source: Mail & Guardian
Notes:
In the article above, it is mentioned that "Commissioner Mohlala said consumers would find protection under sections 55, 56 and 61 of the Consumer Protection Act ("the act"), which provides rights on the quality of goods, and liability for damage caused by goods." It is also mentioned that "it is unlikely that ... a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the CPA. ... If anything, the interruptions should accurately be categorised as impacting on the quality of the service being rendered to consumers."
Legislation must be interpreted to promote the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights. Interpretation and application of the law under the Constitution is never a mechanical application of rules; it always involves a value judgment. Our Constitution and law are infused with moral values. The days of denying the value-laden content of law are long gone. See Maphango and Others v Aengus Lifestyle Properties (Pty) Ltd (CCT 57/11) [2012] ZACC 2 (13 March 2012) at 151.
In our view, it is important to read the provisions in Part H (fair value, quality and safety) of the act as a whole to intepret any provision contained in that part.
It is similarly important to apply a purposive interpretation to the provisions. By applying such an interpretation, it is important to read Chapter 1 of the act, which deals with the interpretation, purpose and application of the act. It is thus incorrect to apply a mechanical application of traditional (un-transformed) rules of interpretation.
Chapter 2 of the act deals with fundamental consumer rights. The chapter is divided into parts, each part dealing with an aspect of as the consumer's right as follows:
Part A: The right of equality in the consumer market
Part B: The right to privacy
Part C: The right to choose
Part D: The right to disclose and information
Part E: The right to fair and responsible marketing
Part F: The right to fair and honest dealings
Part G: The right to fair, just and reasonable terms and conditions
Part H: The right to fair value, quality and safety
Part I: The right to accountability
Section 55 of the the act deals with the consumer's right to safe, good quality goods. Section 56 deals with the implied warranty of quality of goods supplied.
Section 61 of the the act deals with liability for damage caused by goods. The section provides that "the producer or importer, distributor or retailer of any goods is liable for any harm ... caused wholly or partly as a consequence of -
(a) supplying any unsafe goods;
(b) a product failure, defect or hazard in any goods; or
(c) inadequate instructions or warnings provided to the consumer pertaining to any hazard arising from or associated with the use of any goods,irrespective of whether the harm resulted from any negligence on the part of the producer, importer, distributor or retailer, as the case may be."
Section 61(2) of the act provides that "a supplier of services who, in conjunction with the performance of those services, applies, supplies, installs or provides access to any goods, must be regarded as a supplier of those goods to the consumer, for the purposes of this section."
Section 61(5) of the act provides that "[h]arm for which a person may be held liable in terms of this section includes -
(a) the death of, or injury to, any natural person;
(b) an illness of any natural person;
(c) any loss of, or physical damage to any property, irrespective of whether it is movable or immovable; and
(d) any economic loss that results from harm contemplated in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).
It is important to note that the article above ommits a reference to section 54 of the act, which deals with the consumer's right to demand quality service. The section reads as follows:
"(1) When a supplier undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to-
(a) the timely performance and completion of those services, and timely notice of any unavoidable delay in the performance of the services;
(b) the performance of the services in a manner and quality that persons are generally entitled to expect;
(c) the use, delivery or installation of goods that are free of defects and of a quality that persons are generally entitled to expect, if any such goods are required for performance of the services; and
(d) the return of any property or control over any property of the consumer in at least as good a condition as it was when the consumer made it available to the supplier for the purpose of performing such services, having regard to the circumstances of the supply, and any specific criteria or conditions agreed between the supplier and the consumer before or during the performance of the services.
(2) If a supplier fails to perform a service to the standards contemplated in subsection (1), the consumer may require the supplier to either-
(a) remedy any defect in the quality of the services performed or goods supplied; or
(b) refund to the consumer a reasonable portion of the price paid for the services performed and goods supplied, having regard to the extent of the failure."
We therefore do not agree with Albert Aukema, associate in the competition practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, that "it is unlikely that ... a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the [act]." It is apparent that Aukema has applied on outdated rule of interpretation in his analysis of the act.
Whilst the interpretation of the act by Aukema may favour the service provider, at the prejudice of the consumer, it is unlikely to find favour with a transformed court that promotes the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights, contained within the Consititution of South Africa.
Commissioner Mohlala said consumers would find protection under sections 55, 56 and 61 of the Consumer Protection Act, which provides rights on the quality of goods, and liability for damage caused by goods.
However, Albert Aukema, associate in the competition practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr underlined the difference between goods and services, saying the outage was a services issue. "Although the scope of these sections have yet to be interpreted by the courts, it is unlikely that such a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the CPA. "If anything, the interruptions should accurately be categorised as impacting on the quality of the service being rendered to consumers," said Aukema. "The interruption appears to have been unrelated to defects in the handsets supplied to consumers as part of the service offering."
Meanwhile, a number of SA-based mobile operators (MTN R10 to each customer and Vodacom 20 minutes of calls and 20 SMS's on Vodacom to Vodacom service) moved to provide some form of compensation to BlackBerry customers, "as a token of goodwill".
Source: Mail & Guardian
Notes:
In the article above, it is mentioned that "Commissioner Mohlala said consumers would find protection under sections 55, 56 and 61 of the Consumer Protection Act ("the act"), which provides rights on the quality of goods, and liability for damage caused by goods." It is also mentioned that "it is unlikely that ... a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the CPA. ... If anything, the interruptions should accurately be categorised as impacting on the quality of the service being rendered to consumers."
Legislation must be interpreted to promote the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights. Interpretation and application of the law under the Constitution is never a mechanical application of rules; it always involves a value judgment. Our Constitution and law are infused with moral values. The days of denying the value-laden content of law are long gone. See Maphango and Others v Aengus Lifestyle Properties (Pty) Ltd (CCT 57/11) [2012] ZACC 2 (13 March 2012) at 151.
In our view, it is important to read the provisions in Part H (fair value, quality and safety) of the act as a whole to intepret any provision contained in that part.
It is similarly important to apply a purposive interpretation to the provisions. By applying such an interpretation, it is important to read Chapter 1 of the act, which deals with the interpretation, purpose and application of the act. It is thus incorrect to apply a mechanical application of traditional (un-transformed) rules of interpretation.
Chapter 2 of the act deals with fundamental consumer rights. The chapter is divided into parts, each part dealing with an aspect of as the consumer's right as follows:
Part A: The right of equality in the consumer market
Part B: The right to privacy
Part C: The right to choose
Part D: The right to disclose and information
Part E: The right to fair and responsible marketing
Part F: The right to fair and honest dealings
Part G: The right to fair, just and reasonable terms and conditions
Part H: The right to fair value, quality and safety
Part I: The right to accountability
Section 55 of the the act deals with the consumer's right to safe, good quality goods. Section 56 deals with the implied warranty of quality of goods supplied.
Section 61 of the the act deals with liability for damage caused by goods. The section provides that "the producer or importer, distributor or retailer of any goods is liable for any harm ... caused wholly or partly as a consequence of -
(a) supplying any unsafe goods;
(b) a product failure, defect or hazard in any goods; or
(c) inadequate instructions or warnings provided to the consumer pertaining to any hazard arising from or associated with the use of any goods,irrespective of whether the harm resulted from any negligence on the part of the producer, importer, distributor or retailer, as the case may be."
Section 61(2) of the act provides that "a supplier of services who, in conjunction with the performance of those services, applies, supplies, installs or provides access to any goods, must be regarded as a supplier of those goods to the consumer, for the purposes of this section."
Section 61(5) of the act provides that "[h]arm for which a person may be held liable in terms of this section includes -
(a) the death of, or injury to, any natural person;
(b) an illness of any natural person;
(c) any loss of, or physical damage to any property, irrespective of whether it is movable or immovable; and
(d) any economic loss that results from harm contemplated in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).
It is important to note that the article above ommits a reference to section 54 of the act, which deals with the consumer's right to demand quality service. The section reads as follows:
"(1) When a supplier undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to-
(a) the timely performance and completion of those services, and timely notice of any unavoidable delay in the performance of the services;
(b) the performance of the services in a manner and quality that persons are generally entitled to expect;
(c) the use, delivery or installation of goods that are free of defects and of a quality that persons are generally entitled to expect, if any such goods are required for performance of the services; and
(d) the return of any property or control over any property of the consumer in at least as good a condition as it was when the consumer made it available to the supplier for the purpose of performing such services, having regard to the circumstances of the supply, and any specific criteria or conditions agreed between the supplier and the consumer before or during the performance of the services.
(2) If a supplier fails to perform a service to the standards contemplated in subsection (1), the consumer may require the supplier to either-
(a) remedy any defect in the quality of the services performed or goods supplied; or
(b) refund to the consumer a reasonable portion of the price paid for the services performed and goods supplied, having regard to the extent of the failure."
We therefore do not agree with Albert Aukema, associate in the competition practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, that "it is unlikely that ... a challenge would be in line with the provisions of the [act]." It is apparent that Aukema has applied on outdated rule of interpretation in his analysis of the act.
Whilst the interpretation of the act by Aukema may favour the service provider, at the prejudice of the consumer, it is unlikely to find favour with a transformed court that promotes the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights, contained within the Consititution of South Africa.
Friday, October 14, 2011
MTN & Vodacom to refund customers
After days of frustrations, BlackBerry users will be reimbursed for the internet time lost during the network break down. Cellphone operators under their own discretion will give customers free airtime. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) blamed a core switch failure inside its network for the black out. The three day long failure affected four continents including Africa and Asia.
MTN's Mike Fairon said their customers will receive R10 each.
While Vodacom’s Richard Borman said their clients will also be reimbursed. “We’re going to give people 20 minutes of calls Vodacom to Vodacom next week and 20 SMSes,” Borman added.
Source: Eye Withness News
MTN's Mike Fairon said their customers will receive R10 each.
While Vodacom’s Richard Borman said their clients will also be reimbursed. “We’re going to give people 20 minutes of calls Vodacom to Vodacom next week and 20 SMSes,” Borman added.
Source: Eye Withness News
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Operators face showdown at the consumer corral
The National Consumer Commission, established in April to enforce the new Consumer Protection Act, has received objections from all of SA’s big operators, with the exception of Neotel, to the compliance notices it served on them demanding they make the terms of their contracts clearer to consumers.
Head of the commission, Mamodupi Mohlala, initially set a deadline of mid-September for operators to comply with its demands for transparency in advertising, non-automatic renewal of contracts and the ability for consumers to cancel contracts by giving 20 days’ notice, as stipulated by the act. To date, only Neotel has agreed to amend its contracts.
Vodacom recently expressed its opposition to the compliance notices, claiming it was already in talks with the commission regarding amendments to its contracts and advertising. The company’s chief officer for corporate affairs, Portia Maurice, said recently the company was “surprised” to receive a compliance notice because it “already had an amendment process underway and had agreed with [the commission to] an implementation date of 31 October”.
Mohlala says the commission received objection notices from Cell C and MTN on Wednesday, and that it expected objections from Telkom and its mobile arm, 8ta, to follow. The commission has been arguing with Vodacom about issues of quality of service for some time. “In terms of section 54 of the act, which deals with issues of quality of service, a consumer is entitled to receive goods or services at levels to which that consumer is accustomed, or at the levels as stipulated in the consumer’s contract,” Mohlala tells TechCentral.
She says the issue is of growing relevance in light of Vodacom’s recent network failure and the furore earlier this week regarding its announcement that it would be throttling data speeds of heavy users of the BlackBerry Internet Service. Vodacom has since backtracked on its stated plans, with group CEO Pieter Uys blaming miscommunication by its corporate communications department. “In terms of these compliance notices, we as the commission are saying there must be some guarantees with regards to quality of service. Currently, as the operators’ contracts stand, there are no guarantees,” says Mohlala.
She says consumers are expected to “hold up their end of the agreements” by paying for services and paying additional fees in the case of premium services, but there “are no reciprocal guarantees from network operators around quality of service”.
The consumer act specifies that in the event that an operator does not meet the “particular quality-of-service levels that are outlined in a contact”, then the it “must offer the affected consumer a remedy”, she says. If not, “the consumer is entitled to a refund to the extent that they have not received the guaranteed services or quality of service. Consumers must be compensated when operators don’t meet their obligations.”
According to Mohlala, operators have “exclusive control over issues of network coverage and quality of service” and therefore need to give “some sort of commitment to consumers who are paying a lot for those services”.
She says the compliance notices served on the operators also deal with the provisions of section 14 of the act. This refers to the bundling of services. The act says the “bundling of services is not prohibited, but operators must clearly show the benefits of a bundled service to consumers. Over and above that, they must show the financial benefits to the consumer.”
Under the act, operators are obliged to make explicit and explain “in simple terms” what the unbundled costs of a service would be when compared to the bundled offering. “The obvious argument operators are going to put forward is that they don’t have absolute control over the services or over the full value chain of bundled services,” she says. “But we are saying to some extent, in relation to the product and services that they do offer, they have exclusive control over airtime [and] they have a responsibility to demonstrate the benefits of the various elements of the bundled service.”
Mothibi Ramusi, Cell C’s executive head of regulatory affairs, says the company objected to notice it received because it believes there was “no merit in issuing a compliance notice as Cell C’s subscriber agreement is compliant with the act”.
Vodacom’s Maurice says the operator intends to “address the matter” of the compliance notice it received “directly with the commission”. And Robert Madzonga, chief corporate services officer at MTN SA, says the compliance notice called for it to “adopt wording proposed by the commission” in its contracts and that it has “formally objected to the notice on various legitimate grounds”.
“MTN has asked the [national consumer] tribunal to set the notice aside,” Madzonga says. “Amongst other things, MTN contends the notice was issued at a time when the subscriber agreement was in fact compliant; that the notice is based on an outdated and incorrect version of the subscriber agreement; and that the wording proposed in the notice is inappropriate.”
He says that should the tribunal refuse to set aside the notice, “MTN has asked that the terms of the notice ought to be varied so as to allow a proper timeframe for compliance”.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
Head of the commission, Mamodupi Mohlala, initially set a deadline of mid-September for operators to comply with its demands for transparency in advertising, non-automatic renewal of contracts and the ability for consumers to cancel contracts by giving 20 days’ notice, as stipulated by the act. To date, only Neotel has agreed to amend its contracts.
Vodacom recently expressed its opposition to the compliance notices, claiming it was already in talks with the commission regarding amendments to its contracts and advertising. The company’s chief officer for corporate affairs, Portia Maurice, said recently the company was “surprised” to receive a compliance notice because it “already had an amendment process underway and had agreed with [the commission to] an implementation date of 31 October”.
Mohlala says the commission received objection notices from Cell C and MTN on Wednesday, and that it expected objections from Telkom and its mobile arm, 8ta, to follow. The commission has been arguing with Vodacom about issues of quality of service for some time. “In terms of section 54 of the act, which deals with issues of quality of service, a consumer is entitled to receive goods or services at levels to which that consumer is accustomed, or at the levels as stipulated in the consumer’s contract,” Mohlala tells TechCentral.
She says the issue is of growing relevance in light of Vodacom’s recent network failure and the furore earlier this week regarding its announcement that it would be throttling data speeds of heavy users of the BlackBerry Internet Service. Vodacom has since backtracked on its stated plans, with group CEO Pieter Uys blaming miscommunication by its corporate communications department. “In terms of these compliance notices, we as the commission are saying there must be some guarantees with regards to quality of service. Currently, as the operators’ contracts stand, there are no guarantees,” says Mohlala.
She says consumers are expected to “hold up their end of the agreements” by paying for services and paying additional fees in the case of premium services, but there “are no reciprocal guarantees from network operators around quality of service”.
The consumer act specifies that in the event that an operator does not meet the “particular quality-of-service levels that are outlined in a contact”, then the it “must offer the affected consumer a remedy”, she says. If not, “the consumer is entitled to a refund to the extent that they have not received the guaranteed services or quality of service. Consumers must be compensated when operators don’t meet their obligations.”
According to Mohlala, operators have “exclusive control over issues of network coverage and quality of service” and therefore need to give “some sort of commitment to consumers who are paying a lot for those services”.
She says the compliance notices served on the operators also deal with the provisions of section 14 of the act. This refers to the bundling of services. The act says the “bundling of services is not prohibited, but operators must clearly show the benefits of a bundled service to consumers. Over and above that, they must show the financial benefits to the consumer.”
Under the act, operators are obliged to make explicit and explain “in simple terms” what the unbundled costs of a service would be when compared to the bundled offering. “The obvious argument operators are going to put forward is that they don’t have absolute control over the services or over the full value chain of bundled services,” she says. “But we are saying to some extent, in relation to the product and services that they do offer, they have exclusive control over airtime [and] they have a responsibility to demonstrate the benefits of the various elements of the bundled service.”
Mothibi Ramusi, Cell C’s executive head of regulatory affairs, says the company objected to notice it received because it believes there was “no merit in issuing a compliance notice as Cell C’s subscriber agreement is compliant with the act”.
Vodacom’s Maurice says the operator intends to “address the matter” of the compliance notice it received “directly with the commission”. And Robert Madzonga, chief corporate services officer at MTN SA, says the compliance notice called for it to “adopt wording proposed by the commission” in its contracts and that it has “formally objected to the notice on various legitimate grounds”.
“MTN has asked the [national consumer] tribunal to set the notice aside,” Madzonga says. “Amongst other things, MTN contends the notice was issued at a time when the subscriber agreement was in fact compliant; that the notice is based on an outdated and incorrect version of the subscriber agreement; and that the wording proposed in the notice is inappropriate.”
He says that should the tribunal refuse to set aside the notice, “MTN has asked that the terms of the notice ought to be varied so as to allow a proper timeframe for compliance”.
Source: — Craig Wilson, TechCentral
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Vodacom 'spiritually at odds' with Consumer Protection Act
Vodacom's decision to slow down the speed at which BlackBerry users access the internet if they have used more than a 100 megabytes of data a month could be in breach of the "spirit" of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), analysts say.
The mobile phone company announced on Monday that "the 5% of the base who are not using the service for what it was intended will have their connection speed reduced from 3G to 2G levels". Any BlackBerry user who downloads more than 100MB a month would get remaining data at a slower speed even if the consumer had paid for a 3G phone. BlackBerry enterprise users are not affected.
Vodacom has defended its decision, saying the move was intended "to make sure the vast majority of BlackBerry users could access the internet and BlackBerry services more quickly and are not affected by those who abuse the service". But Plain Language attorney Candice Burt believes there is scope to challenge this new business practice under the CPA. "The CPA provides that a supplier of services must not engage in misleading conduct," she told the Mail & Guardian. "This applies to adverts as well as to contracts. It also places an onus on a supplier to correct any false expectations that consumers may have. We must look at how a consumer would understand the terms 'unlimited browsing' and '3G'," she added.
After the announcement, almost 700 Vodacom customers threatened "war" on the company's Facebook page. Subscribers lambasted the mobile company's decision and threatened to take their business to other mobile operators. "Maybe I should report this to the National Consumer Commission, they're the only one who can bring them to book," wrote Tumelo Mokhele on the Facebook page.
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman acknowledged that there was "huge anger" at the company, but said BlackBerry users misunderstood the move, which was aimed at stopping people downloading excessive amounts of data. Boorman said the company was "finding a way to make sure 95% weren't disadvantaged by small minority". He said that reducing download speeds to 2G would not make accessing the websites on a BlackBerry "dramatically slower" for most users, but it would stop users from downloading movies and streaming video when the free BlackBerry service was designed for normal web browsing. "By doing this the network will become faster," he added.
Sarina Govindsamy, an attorney at Gavin Gow Inc, said the decision was not in the "spirit and ethos of the Consumer Protection Act". "A company may not amend the terms and conditions of a contract after it has been agreed. That would constitute a breach of contract," she said. Boorman denied the company was in breach of contract. "We're not changing the terms and conditions of contracts," he said. However, according to Burt, for Vodacom to invoke existing terms and conditions, the consumer's attention would have to be drawn expressly to the relevant clause in the contract that spoke about misuse of the BlackBerry internet service, and the consumer would have to expressly acknowledge the contents of the clause. "To decide if this change by Vodacom contravenes the CPA, we must look at the subscriber agreement," she said. "The plain language requirement of the CPA also means that the contract must be written in a way that the 'ordinary consumer with minimal experience of the product or service' can understand and use the information without undue effort," Burt added.
Boorman said Vodacom's BlackBerry subscribers are not guaranteed a specific download speed when they sign up, but rather promised free internet service -- to which they still had access, following the decision to limit speeds. "We did this to make sure the vast majority people get what they want," he told the M&G.
IT analyst and World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck criticised Vodacom's decision to slow down internet usage after 100MB of data had been used. He said it showed "they do not understand how the South African market is using the internet on mobile phones". But Boorman insisted 100MB was a lot of data. "A hundred megabytes on a BlackBerry is equal to about 400 megabytes on a normal computer because BlackBerry phones compress the size of websites, regardless of whether they were mobile websites or not," he said.
Vodacom may have implemented the speed limit because its technical infrastructure is taking strain. "It may be that Vodacom is trying to contain the high usage because the data network is creaking at the seams," said Goldstuck.
On Vodacom's Facebook page, Jose Antonio De Abreu voiced similar concerns: "This is just a way for Vodacom to hide the fact that they are running out of network capacity. They are trying to hide it buy throttling users to try and cope better".
Vodacom's Boorman denied this, however. "There is no problem with the network," he said, insisting the decision was simply meant to benefit the average user. "There is no internet cap," he reiterated. "Customers will continue to have unlimited internet service." He said the decision was to combat users like the one who posted this comment on my broadband.com internet forum: "In a 24hr period I managed to download a total of 8.1GB of Big Bang Theory episodes on my BB 9300 3G.
According to some opinions BlackBerry isn't the 'slickest' or the 'fastest growing' OS out there but the potential to download a possible 243GB in a 30-day month for R59/month makes a big argument in its [favour]."
Source: Mail & Guardian
The mobile phone company announced on Monday that "the 5% of the base who are not using the service for what it was intended will have their connection speed reduced from 3G to 2G levels". Any BlackBerry user who downloads more than 100MB a month would get remaining data at a slower speed even if the consumer had paid for a 3G phone. BlackBerry enterprise users are not affected.
Vodacom has defended its decision, saying the move was intended "to make sure the vast majority of BlackBerry users could access the internet and BlackBerry services more quickly and are not affected by those who abuse the service". But Plain Language attorney Candice Burt believes there is scope to challenge this new business practice under the CPA. "The CPA provides that a supplier of services must not engage in misleading conduct," she told the Mail & Guardian. "This applies to adverts as well as to contracts. It also places an onus on a supplier to correct any false expectations that consumers may have. We must look at how a consumer would understand the terms 'unlimited browsing' and '3G'," she added.
After the announcement, almost 700 Vodacom customers threatened "war" on the company's Facebook page. Subscribers lambasted the mobile company's decision and threatened to take their business to other mobile operators. "Maybe I should report this to the National Consumer Commission, they're the only one who can bring them to book," wrote Tumelo Mokhele on the Facebook page.
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman acknowledged that there was "huge anger" at the company, but said BlackBerry users misunderstood the move, which was aimed at stopping people downloading excessive amounts of data. Boorman said the company was "finding a way to make sure 95% weren't disadvantaged by small minority". He said that reducing download speeds to 2G would not make accessing the websites on a BlackBerry "dramatically slower" for most users, but it would stop users from downloading movies and streaming video when the free BlackBerry service was designed for normal web browsing. "By doing this the network will become faster," he added.
Sarina Govindsamy, an attorney at Gavin Gow Inc, said the decision was not in the "spirit and ethos of the Consumer Protection Act". "A company may not amend the terms and conditions of a contract after it has been agreed. That would constitute a breach of contract," she said. Boorman denied the company was in breach of contract. "We're not changing the terms and conditions of contracts," he said. However, according to Burt, for Vodacom to invoke existing terms and conditions, the consumer's attention would have to be drawn expressly to the relevant clause in the contract that spoke about misuse of the BlackBerry internet service, and the consumer would have to expressly acknowledge the contents of the clause. "To decide if this change by Vodacom contravenes the CPA, we must look at the subscriber agreement," she said. "The plain language requirement of the CPA also means that the contract must be written in a way that the 'ordinary consumer with minimal experience of the product or service' can understand and use the information without undue effort," Burt added.
Boorman said Vodacom's BlackBerry subscribers are not guaranteed a specific download speed when they sign up, but rather promised free internet service -- to which they still had access, following the decision to limit speeds. "We did this to make sure the vast majority people get what they want," he told the M&G.
IT analyst and World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck criticised Vodacom's decision to slow down internet usage after 100MB of data had been used. He said it showed "they do not understand how the South African market is using the internet on mobile phones". But Boorman insisted 100MB was a lot of data. "A hundred megabytes on a BlackBerry is equal to about 400 megabytes on a normal computer because BlackBerry phones compress the size of websites, regardless of whether they were mobile websites or not," he said.
Vodacom may have implemented the speed limit because its technical infrastructure is taking strain. "It may be that Vodacom is trying to contain the high usage because the data network is creaking at the seams," said Goldstuck.
On Vodacom's Facebook page, Jose Antonio De Abreu voiced similar concerns: "This is just a way for Vodacom to hide the fact that they are running out of network capacity. They are trying to hide it buy throttling users to try and cope better".
Vodacom's Boorman denied this, however. "There is no problem with the network," he said, insisting the decision was simply meant to benefit the average user. "There is no internet cap," he reiterated. "Customers will continue to have unlimited internet service." He said the decision was to combat users like the one who posted this comment on my broadband.com internet forum: "In a 24hr period I managed to download a total of 8.1GB of Big Bang Theory episodes on my BB 9300 3G.
According to some opinions BlackBerry isn't the 'slickest' or the 'fastest growing' OS out there but the potential to download a possible 243GB in a 30-day month for R59/month makes a big argument in its [favour]."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Saturday, August 13, 2011
A cellular licence to print money
The proverbial licence to print money is not the chain of casinos or bottle stores of a generation ago. It’s the telecommunications company, exploiting the now universal desire for people to be online and electronically in touch. This is a sector that generates massive revenues. Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest network provider with 26.6-million customers, in the past year turned over R54bn and almost doubled its net profits to R8bn. International player MTN, with 18.8m local subscribers, increased profits by 20% and had SA revenues of around R37bn.
This is also the sector that draws the most consumer complaints, along with the pharmaceutical/healthcare industries, retail and banking. It is then logical that the new National Consumer Commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala, targeted telecommunication providers as a priority in implementing the recently passed Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
One of Mohlala’s first acts was to force SA’s four cellular network operators and two fixed-line providers to bring their customer contracts in line with the CPA. Despite knowing the intentions of the Act for five years, not a single one was compliant and, in most cases, 75% of their cellphone contracts were in breach.
Basically these companies were quite happy to take advantage of consumers – many illiterate and poor, and for whom a cellphone is a necessity that comes at a disproportionately large monthly cost – for as long as they could get away with. Since then Vodacom has come under further pressure from the commissioner, who ruled that it should compensate those of its subscribers who suffered financial loss when the Vodacom network collapsed a few months back. Vodacom has point-blank refused to comply. As an aside, Vodacom’s media liaison division failed to respond to repeated calls from this writer. Ironically, this is the company that sponsors an annual series of journalism awards.
Given the greed and arrogance that prevails, it should then come as no surprise that the cellular providers have since lobbied to be exempted from the CPA, on the grounds that they are already regulated by the Independent Communication Authority (Icasa). Fat lot of good Icasa would be. Writing in Business Report a few months ago, economic empowerment strategist Thabo Masombuko outlined a stinging assessment of ICASA’s consumer policing abilities, which have made the sector “a haven for tariff looting, exorbitant charges and ridiculous costs … While costs have ballooned, cellular and landline services have become an out-of-reach pie in the sky for millions of users.”
There is an established pattern to this. When cellular licences were first issued to Vodacom and MTN, part of their obligation was the rolling out of rural coverage as a development of national infrastructural that it was hoped would improve the countryside’s potential to create jobs. Unfortunately, it was an obligation only scrappily met, given the lure of lucrative urban rollouts — and the lovely tax from the resultantly dazzling profits — with the result two decades later of unreliable, low-speed rural coverage.
Nor has state entity Telkom, met its statutory obligation to provide countrywide communication systems. Faced with endemic cable theft, the Telkom’s outrageous solution has been simply to cut off both telephone and landline broadband services in rural areas, in favour of a wireless voice service that verges on the useless, in the view of its critics. By the Telkom example, this week’s theft of cabling serving the Gautrain would be dealt with by mothballing the service and suggesting that passengers use taxis instead.
The opportunity costs of these failures are enormous. The World Bank estimates that a 10% increase in broadband penetration delivers a 1.3% rise in economic growth. Is is however an unpalatable fact that in SA, just a dozen or so kilometres outside of the major cities and towns, broadband access is virtually unobtainable. And when available, SA’s mobile broadband remains prohibitively expensive, among the dearest in the world. This inertia and indifference by both the private sector and the state, impacts directly on government’s objective of providing the infrastructural backbone that will allow local communities to grow local jobs, instead of encouraging a growing flow of job seekers to the cities.
When Roy Padayachie took over the long-neglected Communications portfolio he set as his ministerial goal to partner with the private sector to harness telecommunications technology to economic growth. It’s a laudable but unrealisable dream, unless he can get the cellular providers to take their developmental responsibilities a little more seriously.
Source: Mail & Guardian Thought Leader: William Sauderson-Meyer
This is also the sector that draws the most consumer complaints, along with the pharmaceutical/healthcare industries, retail and banking. It is then logical that the new National Consumer Commissioner, Mamodupi Mohlala, targeted telecommunication providers as a priority in implementing the recently passed Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
One of Mohlala’s first acts was to force SA’s four cellular network operators and two fixed-line providers to bring their customer contracts in line with the CPA. Despite knowing the intentions of the Act for five years, not a single one was compliant and, in most cases, 75% of their cellphone contracts were in breach.
Basically these companies were quite happy to take advantage of consumers – many illiterate and poor, and for whom a cellphone is a necessity that comes at a disproportionately large monthly cost – for as long as they could get away with. Since then Vodacom has come under further pressure from the commissioner, who ruled that it should compensate those of its subscribers who suffered financial loss when the Vodacom network collapsed a few months back. Vodacom has point-blank refused to comply. As an aside, Vodacom’s media liaison division failed to respond to repeated calls from this writer. Ironically, this is the company that sponsors an annual series of journalism awards.
Given the greed and arrogance that prevails, it should then come as no surprise that the cellular providers have since lobbied to be exempted from the CPA, on the grounds that they are already regulated by the Independent Communication Authority (Icasa). Fat lot of good Icasa would be. Writing in Business Report a few months ago, economic empowerment strategist Thabo Masombuko outlined a stinging assessment of ICASA’s consumer policing abilities, which have made the sector “a haven for tariff looting, exorbitant charges and ridiculous costs … While costs have ballooned, cellular and landline services have become an out-of-reach pie in the sky for millions of users.”
There is an established pattern to this. When cellular licences were first issued to Vodacom and MTN, part of their obligation was the rolling out of rural coverage as a development of national infrastructural that it was hoped would improve the countryside’s potential to create jobs. Unfortunately, it was an obligation only scrappily met, given the lure of lucrative urban rollouts — and the lovely tax from the resultantly dazzling profits — with the result two decades later of unreliable, low-speed rural coverage.
Nor has state entity Telkom, met its statutory obligation to provide countrywide communication systems. Faced with endemic cable theft, the Telkom’s outrageous solution has been simply to cut off both telephone and landline broadband services in rural areas, in favour of a wireless voice service that verges on the useless, in the view of its critics. By the Telkom example, this week’s theft of cabling serving the Gautrain would be dealt with by mothballing the service and suggesting that passengers use taxis instead.
The opportunity costs of these failures are enormous. The World Bank estimates that a 10% increase in broadband penetration delivers a 1.3% rise in economic growth. Is is however an unpalatable fact that in SA, just a dozen or so kilometres outside of the major cities and towns, broadband access is virtually unobtainable. And when available, SA’s mobile broadband remains prohibitively expensive, among the dearest in the world. This inertia and indifference by both the private sector and the state, impacts directly on government’s objective of providing the infrastructural backbone that will allow local communities to grow local jobs, instead of encouraging a growing flow of job seekers to the cities.
When Roy Padayachie took over the long-neglected Communications portfolio he set as his ministerial goal to partner with the private sector to harness telecommunications technology to economic growth. It’s a laudable but unrealisable dream, unless he can get the cellular providers to take their developmental responsibilities a little more seriously.
Source: Mail & Guardian Thought Leader: William Sauderson-Meyer
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Cellphone companies still selling hot air
The cellphone networks, which do rather well out of our collective obsession with staying connected via our ever-more-clever handsets, have been disappointingly slow to embrace aspects of the Consumer Protection Act which don’t suit them. Chief among these is the stipulation that all pre-paid vouchers must be honoured for up to three years. That means that any goods or services you pay for in advance – from a bus coupon to a facial to cellphone airtime – must be redeemed within three years of the date of purchase, and companies no longer have the right to tell you one or three months down the line “sorry, it’s expired, you forfeit”.
The cellphone companies appear to be carrying on regardless, in this and other respects, while promising the National Consumer Commission that they’ll get their act together within three months. Jerry Buirski told Consumer watch as he approached the Cape by sea last week that he noticed he had Vodacom’s 3G signal, so he powered up his laptop and prepared to send a month’s worth of e-mails. “However, I found I’d lost all my unused data on June 30. This does not seem right at all.”
National Consumer Commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala has recently publicly repeated the commission’s stance that all pre-paid airtime and data must be redeemable for up to three years in terms of the CPA. Asked to respond to Buirski’s experience, Vodacom’s chief officer of corporate affairs, Portia Maurice, said: “The commissioner has requested us to investigate this aspect of the act and present further submissions in support of our current business practices. We are currently reviewing this and will provide a response to the commissioner.”
Last month, when questioned on the premature expiry of pre-paid data, Vodacom told Consumer Watch: “When customers purchase data bundles, funds are deducted from their airtime in return for access to data bundles. So they are deemed to have exchanged the value of their prepaid airtime for access to data bundles. “There’s a difference between a voucher and a product bought by that voucher. The three-year expiry rule refers to vouchers and not to products purchased by vouchers.”
But Mohlala doesn’t agree with this interpretation, insisting that pre-paid data may not “expire” within three years of purchase. “We’ve had long discussions with the industry and I’ve made it clear that if they are not willing to come to the party on this and other issues of compliance with the act, we have the power to issue a compliance notice,” Mohlala said.
The ultimate sanction, in terms of the CPA, is a fine of R1 million or 10 percent of annual turnover. But subscribers continue to be deprived of cell products they’ve paid for a few months previously. Gary Cousins told Consumer Watch that he bought R300 of airtime for his teenage son in early March which was loaded on to his (son’s) number. But by early June, three months later, despite having used only about half that amount, his son was unable to send SMSes. “I suspected that the remaining airtime had been ‘removed’, so I sent him another R50 on July 10, and his phone immediately started sending SMSes,” Cousins said. “A balance enquiry showed R50 airtime remaining.”
So I asked Cell C: “Is it true that by early June the unused portion of that R300 airtime ‘expired’? “If so, how is this justified?” This was the response I got: “Icasa (the Independent Communications Authority of SA) is in the process of applying to the National Consumer Commission for an exemption with regards to this aspect of the act. Until the process is complete, Cell C cannot comment on the matter.”
Interestingly, Icasa’s concern about the CPA’s provision that pre-paid vouchers be redeemable by consumers for up to three years has to do with the recycling of numbers. But Icasa is not in favour of consumers losing out on pre-paid airtime and data. Icasa councillor Fungai Sibanda told Consumer Watch: “Icasa is of the view that consumers must be protected with respect to unused credit, whilst at the same time allowing inactive numbers to be recycled.” But right now pre-paid cellphone users are continuing to be “robbed” of their unused airtime and data – almost four months after the CPA came into effect.
Source: IoL
The cellphone companies appear to be carrying on regardless, in this and other respects, while promising the National Consumer Commission that they’ll get their act together within three months. Jerry Buirski told Consumer watch as he approached the Cape by sea last week that he noticed he had Vodacom’s 3G signal, so he powered up his laptop and prepared to send a month’s worth of e-mails. “However, I found I’d lost all my unused data on June 30. This does not seem right at all.”
National Consumer Commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala has recently publicly repeated the commission’s stance that all pre-paid airtime and data must be redeemable for up to three years in terms of the CPA. Asked to respond to Buirski’s experience, Vodacom’s chief officer of corporate affairs, Portia Maurice, said: “The commissioner has requested us to investigate this aspect of the act and present further submissions in support of our current business practices. We are currently reviewing this and will provide a response to the commissioner.”
Last month, when questioned on the premature expiry of pre-paid data, Vodacom told Consumer Watch: “When customers purchase data bundles, funds are deducted from their airtime in return for access to data bundles. So they are deemed to have exchanged the value of their prepaid airtime for access to data bundles. “There’s a difference between a voucher and a product bought by that voucher. The three-year expiry rule refers to vouchers and not to products purchased by vouchers.”
But Mohlala doesn’t agree with this interpretation, insisting that pre-paid data may not “expire” within three years of purchase. “We’ve had long discussions with the industry and I’ve made it clear that if they are not willing to come to the party on this and other issues of compliance with the act, we have the power to issue a compliance notice,” Mohlala said.
The ultimate sanction, in terms of the CPA, is a fine of R1 million or 10 percent of annual turnover. But subscribers continue to be deprived of cell products they’ve paid for a few months previously. Gary Cousins told Consumer Watch that he bought R300 of airtime for his teenage son in early March which was loaded on to his (son’s) number. But by early June, three months later, despite having used only about half that amount, his son was unable to send SMSes. “I suspected that the remaining airtime had been ‘removed’, so I sent him another R50 on July 10, and his phone immediately started sending SMSes,” Cousins said. “A balance enquiry showed R50 airtime remaining.”
So I asked Cell C: “Is it true that by early June the unused portion of that R300 airtime ‘expired’? “If so, how is this justified?” This was the response I got: “Icasa (the Independent Communications Authority of SA) is in the process of applying to the National Consumer Commission for an exemption with regards to this aspect of the act. Until the process is complete, Cell C cannot comment on the matter.”
Interestingly, Icasa’s concern about the CPA’s provision that pre-paid vouchers be redeemable by consumers for up to three years has to do with the recycling of numbers. But Icasa is not in favour of consumers losing out on pre-paid airtime and data. Icasa councillor Fungai Sibanda told Consumer Watch: “Icasa is of the view that consumers must be protected with respect to unused credit, whilst at the same time allowing inactive numbers to be recycled.” But right now pre-paid cellphone users are continuing to be “robbed” of their unused airtime and data – almost four months after the CPA came into effect.
Source: IoL
Monday, July 18, 2011
Cellphone operators told to amend contracts
South Africa's four primary cellular network operators and two fixed-line providers will have new customer contracts that are compliant with the Consumer Protection Act in place within the next three months.This came as national consumer commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala prepared to sign consent order agreements this week with each of the companies, Business Report reported on Monday. These agreements were legally binding and a fine of R1 million or 10 percent of annual turnover could be imposed if they were breached.
Mohlala said that over the past two weeks the commission had reviewed all contracts provided by the individual companies and none of the contracts were compliant with the act. This, despite the fact that it had been in the pipeline for the past five years and its implementation was postponed from September last year to April this year. She said that in most cases about 75 percent of the cellphone contract terms and conditions would have to change.
Companies would have to change their billing systems, marketing approach and their staff would have to be educated and more skilled, which would require more spending on human resources, she said. "There is nothing untoward… we are aligning South Africa with international best practice."
Mohlala said Cell C, Telkom and 8.ta would have their contracts amended by the end of September, Neotel by next month and MTN and Vodacom both expected to have amended their contracts by the end of October.
Source: Times Live
Mohlala said that over the past two weeks the commission had reviewed all contracts provided by the individual companies and none of the contracts were compliant with the act. This, despite the fact that it had been in the pipeline for the past five years and its implementation was postponed from September last year to April this year. She said that in most cases about 75 percent of the cellphone contract terms and conditions would have to change.
Companies would have to change their billing systems, marketing approach and their staff would have to be educated and more skilled, which would require more spending on human resources, she said. "There is nothing untoward… we are aligning South Africa with international best practice."
Mohlala said Cell C, Telkom and 8.ta would have their contracts amended by the end of September, Neotel by next month and MTN and Vodacom both expected to have amended their contracts by the end of October.
Source: Times Live
Telecoms firms told to amend contracts
 |
| Mamodupi Mohlala |
This came as national consumer commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala prepared to sign consent order agreements this week with each of the companies. These agreements were legally binding and a fine of R1m or 10% of annual turnover could be imposed if they were breached.
Mohlala said that over the past two weeks the commission had reviewed all contracts provided by the individual companies and none of the contracts were compliant with the act. This, despite the fact that it had been in the pipeline for the past five years and its implementation was postponed from September last year to April this year. She said that in most cases about 75% of the cellphone contract terms and conditions would have to change.
Companies would have to change their billing systems, marketing approach and their staff would have to be educated and more skilled, which would require more spending on human resources, she said. “There is nothing untoward. We are aligning SA with international best practice.”
Mohlala said Cell C, Telkom and 8ta would have their contracts amended by the end of September, Neotel by next month and MTN and Vodacom both expected to have amended their contracts by the end of October.
Source: Techcentral
Friday, July 1, 2011
Vodacom cuts off about a million users
Vodacom, South Africa's biggest wireless phones operator, cut off about a million users on Friday for failing to register their SIM cards under a new law in the country. Under the new Regulation of Interception of Communication Act, mobile phone SIM cards must have been registered by 10pm GMT on Thursday to avoid being cut off from the network.
Vodacom, a unit of Britain's Vodafone, said under a million subscribers were disconnected from its network but spokesman Richard Boorman said the impact on revenue would be minimal. "Overall, I can say we're not expecting a major revenue impact," Boorman said, adding only a portion of those disconnected, frequently used their lines.
Vodacom's rival MTN declined to disclose how customers were locked out of the network but said initial indications showed that the numbers were not significant. "MTN is not in a position to disclose the figures of ... subscribers who have been cut off because MTN is in a closed period," Eddie Moyce, customer relationship executive at the operator's South African unit, said in an emailed response to Reuters questions.
MTN is finalising its half-year results and companies typically refrain from making comments on their balance sheets before the results are published. MTN has about 19-million subscribers in South Africa while Vodacom boasts about 26 million users in the country.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Vodacom, a unit of Britain's Vodafone, said under a million subscribers were disconnected from its network but spokesman Richard Boorman said the impact on revenue would be minimal. "Overall, I can say we're not expecting a major revenue impact," Boorman said, adding only a portion of those disconnected, frequently used their lines.
Vodacom's rival MTN declined to disclose how customers were locked out of the network but said initial indications showed that the numbers were not significant. "MTN is not in a position to disclose the figures of ... subscribers who have been cut off because MTN is in a closed period," Eddie Moyce, customer relationship executive at the operator's South African unit, said in an emailed response to Reuters questions.
MTN is finalising its half-year results and companies typically refrain from making comments on their balance sheets before the results are published. MTN has about 19-million subscribers in South Africa while Vodacom boasts about 26 million users in the country.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Cellphone networks not working
Cellphone service providers Vodacom and MTN were having serious network problems on Thursday, the companies said. "We are currently experiencing network issues in some areas. Our engineering team is working hard to resolve the problem. We apologise to all affected customers," said Vodacom spokesperson Ashleigh Dubbelman.
The contact number provided was a Vodacom number, with no landline number supplied, so further details were not immediately available. However, the company used Twitter to apologise, reply to questions and post short updates, repeating several times that it was not related to the Rica deadline to register sim cards. "We're aware that certain customers are experiencing an inability to call or SMS. Sincere apologies, we're working on a fix :-/," one of the posts read.
In another post they wrote: "...there is a network wide issue on Voice and SMS that some customers are experiencing, we are attending to this." Technicians were working on the problem.
MTN echoed this, also offering apologies.
Source: Mail & Guardian
The contact number provided was a Vodacom number, with no landline number supplied, so further details were not immediately available. However, the company used Twitter to apologise, reply to questions and post short updates, repeating several times that it was not related to the Rica deadline to register sim cards. "We're aware that certain customers are experiencing an inability to call or SMS. Sincere apologies, we're working on a fix :-/," one of the posts read.
In another post they wrote: "...there is a network wide issue on Voice and SMS that some customers are experiencing, we are attending to this." Technicians were working on the problem.
MTN echoed this, also offering apologies.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Cellphone networks not working
Cellphone service providers Vodacom and MTN were having serious network problems on Thursday, the companies said. "We are currently experiencing network issues in some areas. Our engineering team is working hard to resolve the problem. We apologise to all affected customers," said Vodacom spokesperson Ashleigh Dubbelman.
The contact number provided was a Vodacom number, with no landline number supplied, so further details were not immediately available. However, the company used Twitter to apologise, reply to questions and post short updates, repeating several times that it was not related to the Rica deadline to register sim cards. "We're aware that certain customers are experiencing an inability to call or SMS. Sincere apologies, we're working on a fix :-/," one of the posts read.
In another post they wrote: "...there is a network wide issue on Voice and SMS that some customers are experiencing, we are attending to this." Technicians were working on the problem.
MTN echoed this, also offering apologies.
Source: Mail & Guardian -- Sapa
The contact number provided was a Vodacom number, with no landline number supplied, so further details were not immediately available. However, the company used Twitter to apologise, reply to questions and post short updates, repeating several times that it was not related to the Rica deadline to register sim cards. "We're aware that certain customers are experiencing an inability to call or SMS. Sincere apologies, we're working on a fix :-/," one of the posts read.
In another post they wrote: "...there is a network wide issue on Voice and SMS that some customers are experiencing, we are attending to this." Technicians were working on the problem.
MTN echoed this, also offering apologies.
Source: Mail & Guardian -- Sapa
Thursday, June 23, 2011
8ta drops broadband bomb on rivals
Telkom's new mobile operator, 8ta, has dropped a bomb on rivals Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, introducing a cut-rate broadband product offering 10GB of data a month for R199 on a 24-month contract. For an additional R100 per month, users will have 20GB of bandwidth -- 10GB plus an extra 10GB for use between midnight and 5am.
The 10GB package equates to an effective cost-per-megabyte of less than 2c, making it the most aggressive mobile broadband pricing in South Africa to date. The out-of-bundle rate is 30 cents per megabyte and no modem is included in the packages.
The offer will only work in areas where Telkom has built 8ta towers and will not work in areas where the company relies on roaming partner MTN for coverage. 8ta has almost 1 000 active mobile broadband base stations across the country, and has said it will have more than 2 000 by March next year.
Amith Maharaj, managing executive of Telkom Mobile, says consumers have expressed concern about the cost of mobile data and he believes 8ta's aggressive new pricing will help win over those customers. "Price has seemed to be the barrier to entry until now," Maharaj says.
He emphasises that the two new products are a special offer only. However, he won't say when the special offer will end. Customers who sign up for a 24-month contract are guaranteed the prices won't increase throughout the contract period. -- TechCentral
Source: Mail & Guardian
The 10GB package equates to an effective cost-per-megabyte of less than 2c, making it the most aggressive mobile broadband pricing in South Africa to date. The out-of-bundle rate is 30 cents per megabyte and no modem is included in the packages.
The offer will only work in areas where Telkom has built 8ta towers and will not work in areas where the company relies on roaming partner MTN for coverage. 8ta has almost 1 000 active mobile broadband base stations across the country, and has said it will have more than 2 000 by March next year.
Amith Maharaj, managing executive of Telkom Mobile, says consumers have expressed concern about the cost of mobile data and he believes 8ta's aggressive new pricing will help win over those customers. "Price has seemed to be the barrier to entry until now," Maharaj says.
He emphasises that the two new products are a special offer only. However, he won't say when the special offer will end. Customers who sign up for a 24-month contract are guaranteed the prices won't increase throughout the contract period. -- TechCentral
Source: Mail & Guardian
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