Unintended consequences of data bundle regulation

[Totempole]

Try Sky mobile in the UK...https://www.sky.com/shop/mobile/features#feature-roll

D

Point taken, but I'm pretty sure stupidly small data bundles like 10-50MBs are unheard of in the UK.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Try Sky mobile in the UK...https://www.sky.com/shop/mobile/features#feature-roll

D

That's an exception rather than the rule. I think they are on a market share grab.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

3 years - it's the law - Section 63 (2) of the Consumer Protection Act states:

Networks are breaking the law.
Networks were previously scamming consumers.
The CPA was introduced to stop this anti-consumer behavior of expiry prepaid certificate, card, credit, voucher or similar devices
The CPA is meant to protect consumers.
Networks are just showing the middle finger to the law.

FYI: Prepaid electricity does not expire - once the prepaid electricity voucher is loaded into the meter the units stay there until consumed.

Cellular networks got an exception granted. Do not illegal

 

[rwenzori]

One other consequence might also be to limit the recycling of numbers which is rather rapid currently if you have a backup phone and do not use it for a few months only to find it gone.

 

[DXL]

CPA

In reality all it would mean is that mobile providers would have to get more creative when it comes to low-end offerings.

A 3 year expiry period is absolutely ridiculous though. Who comes up with this crap?

3 months maybe?

The purpose is to get all vouchers purchased in South Africa valid for 3 years in line with the CPA regulations.

 

[DXL]

Agreed ! Well explained !

 

[Piesang]

Just give customers with bigger data packages a longer carry over period.

Why must I who pay for 50GB data per month not be able to carry over my data because someone else wants to buy 1GB data to get free WhatsApp usage??

 

[The_Jinxer]

Almost everyone is missing the entire point. Even the one who wrote the article.
If I deposit R50 into my savings account, it would be stealing if the bank made that money "disappear" after 30 days.

There should be 3 years expiry on any data/talk time/etc purchase. Why should cell c or whomever be able to make my money spent with them null and void just because they want it to?

Exactly like some user above said, electricity meters have the correct stance. You buy the voucher and it only "expires" when you've used it all.

All these micro bundles are just ripping the people off by making them think they're getting a better deal.

And to top this all off (ha, airtime pun) SA has among the highest mobile data prices in Africa as far as I remember.

"But dude, what about 30 day WhatsApp/social media bundles?"
Remove the 30 day bull**** and change the AUP into the amount of data given.

Ugh I can't even keep a second Sim card loaded with emergency data/airtime because it might be stolen

 

[konfab]

I have the same probleem. Streaming bundles are cheaper, while it should be more expensive due to the prioritisation over other data, otherwise streaming can break. So how it can be cheaper?

You are paying for it via the company that you are buying the streaming services from.

 

[Geoff.D]

The answer is nothing ever expires , end of story. ....

Even the three years in the CPA is a compromise.

 

[/dev/null]

The answer is nothing ever expires , end of story. ....

Even the three years in the CPA is a compromise.

Life would be great if nothing expired.

 

[Geoff.D]

Its just a bookkeeping matter in the end, about liabilities on the books. Data should never expire in the present form. It expires when you use it. It is not a warranty. It is not time bound at all. You buy a credit and you should be able to use it whenever you like.

And be honest, how many would sit with the "allowance" for very long anyway?

 

[lexis]

I bought 3 gigs at R299 in 2017 from cellc for my cellphone valid for 365 days. It is more or less all I need.
Now I need to refill and can only get 10gig at R 700 for 365 days, which exceeds my needs.
I would prefer to rather buy the 10 gig for 3 years, or even have a choice how much I can buy for one year than to resort to monthly small bundles.

 

[ponder]

I bought 3 gigs at R299 in 2017 from cellc for my cellphone valid for 365 days. It is more or less all I need.
Now I need to refill and can only get 10gig at R 700 for 365 days, which exceeds my needs.
I would prefer to rather buy the 10 gig for 3 years, or even have a choice how much I can buy for one year than to resort to monthly small bundles.

HTF do you watch porn with that?