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South Africa: Vodacom Reaches Settlement With Competition Regulator Over Data Prices

Mobile Money and Telcos	1499 VIEWS
Mobile Money and Telcos
1499 VIEWS

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Monday, March 09, 2020 /12:07 PM / By Broadcast Media Africa / Header Image Credit: EcoGraphics

Vodacom and South Africa's Competition Commission have reportedly reached a settlement agreement over data prices.

The Commission has invited reporters to a press conference on Tuesday in Pretoria at which the details of the settlement are to be announced.

In December, the Commission introduced strict and radical interventions in the data services sector, including a controversial proposal that telcos be forced to give South Africans a free amount of daily data.

This followed the regulator's inquiry into South Africa's data services market.

Tembinkosi Bonakele, the Competition Commissioner, said at the time that the telcos, including Vodacom, had a timeframe of three months to reach an agreement with the Competition Commission.

In addition to the lifeline data, the Commission said that Vodacom and MTN must immediately reduce their data prices, with Bonakele arguing that this could be between 30% and 50%.

Vodacom and MTN were to independently reach an agreement with the Commission within two months, on the reduction of prices of all 500MB 30-day prepaid data bundles to reflect the same cost on contract or post-paid plans.

The two mobile operators were ordered to reach an agreement with the Commission to stop practices that facilitate price discrimination against the poor.