New mobile data and network rules proposed

[Shadowchaser1]

(The Competition Commission has released a provisional report on its Data Services Market Inquiry, in which it prescribed new rules for mobile networks)

The report is not going to change anything. If the analogue network is not going to be switched off by the SABC and everybody moved to digital, nothing will change SA has missed 2 cut off dates if I remember correctly. It currently can't be switched off due to the majority still using it. riots will follow.

#6 Government will and cannot provide or manage their own network. Skills and understanding the how telecoms market work is not their priority nor are they interested to do so. Basic understanding lacks big time. See the amount of Telecommunication ministers the last 10 years.

#7 CC has no idea what good healthy competition is.

#9 That (more spectrum) is not going to happen in the near future.

#12 Agree with investments etc. Like mr Trump said Africa is the S...hole of the world.

#15, 17 18 Greed is the biggest problem.

The next generation will still have the same problems. Just the way I see and experience it.

 

[Geoff.D]

Have you seen how they gave implemented it?
OOB still happening half the time it is disabled.

And they've hidden the menus somewhere

Huh? Have no issues with OOB activating by itself since 1 April.

 

[Geoff.D]

Answer: Licensed Spectrum...

The SA government (like many others since) decided to sell the airwaves as a monopoly [learned not that long ago that SA was one of the first countries to do this!]. So it has to be regulated BECAUSE it is a monopoly that was sold.

You can't set up a new mobile network in any regulated spectrum... without first licensing that spectrum (which by the way it is ALL already owned by someone else!). So that's why it's not like food.

Makes some sense... but does mean you need to keep it competitive, or like any monopoly/oligopoly the suppliers will set prices too high and restrict supply.

Where did you learn this? Sounds like a weird, rather inaccurate interpretation of what spectrum management is all about. .........

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Huh? Have no issues with OOB activating by itself since 1 April.

Their billing says remaining balance is R57.
Actual balance is R23. Where has the other amount disappeared to? Some black hole they have created to enrich themselves.

After complaining, they actually removed the billing. So now no transactions are being displayed at all.

Itemised billing should be included for free. Nowhere else do you get to pay for seeing where your money is being supposedly spent.

Did I say spent? I meant stolen

 

[richjdavies]

Where did you learn this? Sounds like a weird, rather inaccurate interpretation of what spectrum management is all about. .........

I'm a bit lost as to what you disagree with here? Spectrum is LICENSED... Vodacom, MTN, others have bands that they (and only they) are licensed to use. Companies BUY these licenses e.g.:
https://www.fin24.com/Companies/ICT...rum-auction-by-april-2019-says-cwele-20181011
ICASA make sure I don't bands that Vodacom have paid for etc... So they are a government created oligopoly...

I'm not sure what's "weird" or "inaccurate" about that? Please let me know what I've misunderstood.

 

[richjdavies]

Their billing says remaining balance is R57.
Actual balance is R23. Where has the other amount disappeared to? Some black hole they have created to enrich themselves.

I had something similar on a cell-c prepaid SIM. OOB is turned off. Had data and airtime one day, then suddenly didn't have any data or airtime... I could understand having no data - e.g. something could have used it. But without OOB enabled, where did the airtime go?

Tried looking all over their myaccount page - but there is no longer a breakdown of what you spent. Tried support... no response yet.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Their billing says remaining balance is R57.
Actual balance is R23. Where has the other amount disappeared to? Some black hole they have created to enrich themselves.

After complaining, they actually removed the billing. So now no transactions are being displayed at all.

Itemised billing should be included for free. Nowhere else do you get to pay for seeing where your money is being supposedly spent.

Did I say spent? I meant stolen

Just got off the phone with Vodacom. They told me to check the itemised billing. I told them it wants to charge me R11 for a statement. Will they refund me that amount as well as the airtime taken? Moment of silence there.

They confirmed that there was data charged for from airtime. "But It was only R24.67" . Their lack of concern for their system being broken is telling.

Bunch of thieves

 

[richjdavies]

Their lack of concern for their system being broken is telling.

You just reminded me to check that my call recording program is back on. You should forward the call to ICASA. I'm sure they'd love to hear how Vodacom are breaking the law.

 

[Swa]

Okay - to rephrase - cover it in the way MTN and Vodacom cover the country (98% of population?)

After that there are ways for individual communities to recover spectrum and run a community mobile network - I was told this is being done in some townships in the South Peninsula of Cape Town...

How about The Things Network for Mobile

Yes but take a look at how they're covering it. It's not with 4G and LTE. Rain and Telkom are actually in a much better position to cover the country as they aren't constraining themselves to using valuable spectrum for older technologies.

Why is it only telecomms that is so heavily regulated? How are these companies supposed to survive and be profitable in future? Especially the smaller players with shallow pockets and low margins?

Nobody regulates the price of food, or cars or houses or anything else. But it's always data data data that gets nailed time and time again.

Yes there is room for prices to come down, but Government is doing nothing to help the industry (e.g. spectrum).

There's actually much better ways to lower prices than continually releasing new spectrum at the whims of networks. This will actually be the last rounds of spectrum auctions unless somebody can figure out how to use terahertz frequencies.

 

[richjdavies]

ITWeb had a great chart on this - from ICASA:


I guess Rain is a straight line at 0.05.
You can see from that graph what we all know. MTN and Vodacom have one price and Telkom & Cell-C have another. This is sympomatic of oligopoly - non-price competition or cartel.