South African data bundles are listed as the second most expensive in the world but thanks to the #DataMustFall campaign an official investigation is taking place!
On average a 1 gigabyte data bundle costs more than household necessities such as bread and milk! South African Twitter users started the campaign #DataMustFall in the hopes that the massive cellular networks would hear their message. A social media blackout also took place with users boycotting any data consuming apps for a day.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) have officially announced that they will be doing a probe into why South African costs are so high! And it is all thanks to those who said ‘enough is enough!’.
The Icasa probe will be an in-depth one, taking a look at various aspects that influence the cost of Data in South Africa. They hope to draw a full conclusion by March 2018!
“This will include a market study, a discussion document, public hearings and a findings document. The next phase of the project is to have a series of market reviews.” – Paseka Maleka, Icasa Spokesperson
The hope is that it will be made more affordable across the board and to prevent purchased packages and airtime from expiring after a 30 day period, which is infuriating!
Telkom has supported the probe being done by Icasa and hopes to be a leader in providing lower costing packages.
“Telkom fully supports Icasa’s view. The initiatives we have taken and will take in future years are aimed at bringing about cost reductions for all, not only for Telkom customers.” – Gugulethu Maqetuka executive: Group Communications and Business Support at Telkom
“In order for competition to really thrive and see competitive pricing passed on to the consumer, we need to see a proposed national broadband network implemented, or see mobile providers begin infrastructure sharing that will see input costs decline and competitive rates offered to consumers.” – Vinnie Santu, Cell C Spokesperson
While there is some time to wait until we hear what Icasa thinks, it is already promising that a group of everyday voices online helped make this probe possible! Together we can make anything possible!
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