Minister withdraws ECA Amendment Bill

[Bradley Prior]

Minister withdraws ECA Amendment Bill

Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has withdrawn the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, according to the DA.

DA Shadow Minister of Telecommunications Marian Shinn told MyBroadband that that Ndabeni-Abrahams announced the withdrawal in a letter to the parliamentary portfolio committee on telecommunications.

 

[DXL]

Another minister another vision.

No sweat no hurry no rush.

While South Africans are paying R150 a gig when real cost is close to 80c a gig.

I wonder which Telecoms company she is aligned to ?

Spectrum should be shared equally with use it or lose it.

If an operator is not using their Spectrum in a particular area another operator willing to roll out services must be able to use the spectrum.

LTE can now be used in 5 Bands and we still cannot distribute spectrum properly.

6 Operators makes commercial and competitive sense.

Prices will fall on its own.

 

[ToxicBunny]

How do you figure the real cost is around 80c a gig?

 

[DXL]

How do you figure the real cost is around 80c a gig?

Calculations from efficient operators in a competitive market. LRIC over 12 month period.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Calculations from efficient operators in a competitive market. LRIC over 12 month period.

So the calculations aren't based on SA figures and SA circumstances?

I am not saying R150 per gig is accurate, but I also think 80c a gig is not valid either.

 

[Joseph matane]

So this move is essential but timing is wrong so how about giving MNO that spectrum as a trial version I mean icasa must allow all mobile network operators interested in unlicensed spectrum to share that spectrum for free while DoC finalize the bill and icasa must force MNO to launch promotion that address current data pricing immediately like 1GB~R50 valid 30 days is a win win situation at the moment

 

[DXL]

So this move is essential but timing is wrong so how about giving MNO that spectrum as a trial version I mean icasa must allow all mobile network operators interested in unlicensed spectrum to share that spectrum for free while DoC finalize the bill and icasa must force MNO to launch promotion that address current data pricing immediately like 1GB~R50 valid 30 days is a win win situation at the moment

We have been having it.
RAIN = R50 a Gigabyte
Telkom - R10 a Gigabyte
Neotel - R10 a Gigabyte where coverage exists.
Cell - C Giga Specials

We want R10 and under now Bro.

 

[Joseph matane]

We have been having it.
RAIN = R50 a Gigabyte
Telkom - R10 a Gigabyte
Neotel - R10 a Gigabyte where coverage exists.
Cell - C Giga Specials

We want R10 and under now Bro.

Where did you get neotel pricing I thought they plan to launch LTE network

 

[Swa]

Where did you get neotel pricing I thought they plan to launch LTE network

Neotel has had LTE for ages but it was fixed and not mobile pay per use.

 

[DXL]

Where did you get neotel pricing I thought they plan to launch LTE network

Neotel CDMA Data Network had an offer of R200 for 20 Gigs.
Their Fixed LTE also had some good pricing but very limited coverage. Their Mobile LTE is coming soon so we need to wait and see if they will be competitive.

 

[Joseph matane]

Neotel CDMA Data Network had an offer of R200 for 20 Gigs.
Their Fixed LTE also had some good pricing but very limited coverage. Their Mobile LTE is coming soon so we need to wait and see if they will be competitive.

Alright but this new bill must also address poor coverage e.g like you just mentioned neotel fixed LTE coverage is too limited and focus on certain areas only with the new bill it must force MNO to roll out coverage to every province not just big cities only perfect example is Rain South Africa they managed to cover every capital city across SA, even Northern Cape has Rain fixed LTE and mobile LTE coverage which is good cause Northern Cape never gets modern internet connection in Time

 

[DXL]

Alright but this new bill must also address poor coverage e.g like you just mentioned neotel fixed LTE coverage is too limited and focus on certain areas only with the new bill it must force MNO to roll out coverage to every province not just big cities only perfect example is Rain South Africa they managed to cover every capital city across SA, even Northern Cape has Rain fixed LTE and mobile LTE coverage which is good cause Northern Cape never gets modern internet connection in Time

The problem here Joseph is that ICASA and DOC have failed in their regulatory duties to hold these operators to account in terms of coverage obligations.

There are huge township settlements that do not have Neotel and Telkom coverage.

MTN & Vodacom hold the country to ransom with their high Tariffs as they have decent coverage in most places in South Africa. Only the guys who live in the Cities enjoy the choice of Different carriers like RAIN - Telkom - Neotel - Cell-C and fibre Companies. Rural People continue to be beholden to MTN & Vodacom.

However RAIN is starting to make a difference so by end of 2020 we should see good healthy competition in the data Space , but Vodacom is moving swiftly to throttle competition in the data space that is a concern.

We can also hope MTN makes use of their investment in their network and offer some decent Pricing for Bigger bundles over 20 Gigs.

 

[Emjay]

We have been having it.
RAIN = R50 a Gigabyte
Telkom - R10 a Gigabyte
Neotel - R10 a Gigabyte where coverage exists.
Cell - C Giga Specials

We want R10 and under now Bro.

Would love to see some studies on those very bold claims you make.

What you want and what the market is willing to pay are very different, Bro.

 

[ProAsm]

We are paying for the infrastructure etc.
Data is data, regardless of how you look at it.
There is no difference between a cellphone data, adsl data, fibre or lte data, it is all data.
If Vox can sell 100 GB data to their adsl customers for R79 then we can assume it's cost price is around 50c a Gigabyte.

 

[Swa]

Neotel CDMA Data Network had an offer of R200 for 20 Gigs.
Their Fixed LTE also had some good pricing but very limited coverage. Their Mobile LTE is coming soon so we need to wait and see if they will be competitive.

Would like to see more competition in this space.

 

[DXL]

We are paying for the infrastructure etc.
Data is data, regardless of how you look at it.
There is no difference between a cellphone data, adsl data, fibre or lte data, it is all data.
If Vox can sell 100 GB data to their adsl customers for R79 then we can assume it's cost price is around 50c a Gigabyte.

Agreed !

Another point to vindicate the cost of Mobile Data being closer to R0-80c per Gigabyte.

Why do you think the Investors in RAIN outlayed so much cash to Build the Network.
They worked out if at worst case scenario they charged R1-60 per Gigabyte when competition is at its BEST they will still make a great "Roi". They will recover their Investment within 3 years.

That's how good the Business Model is ! But Vodacom is Buying Bulk capacity from them and that is a concern.