Cell giants bleeding SA dry
Market leaders MTN and Vodacom are singled out for their 'anti-poor' pricing
SA's cellphone giants are hurting the economy and consumers with sky-high data prices, and making tidy profits in the process, according to Competition Commission boss Tembinkosi Bonakele. "Until now, for them [mobile operators] it has been about profiteering. It has not been about helping the poor or the economy," Bonakele told Business Times. He was speaking in an exclusive interview after Wednesday's release of a damning preliminary report on mobile operators and high data tariffs. PODCAST | Consumers are fed up with Telcos Subscribe: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Player.fm The report slammed market leaders MTN and Vodacom for their pricing.Data costs consumers up to six times as much in SA as in other countries where they operate, and there is a lack of transparency in terms of out-of-bundle data rates, the report said.Both companies disagree, claiming to have slashed tariffs and out-of-bundle data rates by more than 70% this year. MTN and Vodacom also said...
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