Vodacom, MTN must reduce prices by 50% and give users free data

[DreamKing]

You sound like a perfect customer for MTN and Vodacom. Did you buy that at 300mb once off or bit by bit?

once off. (how can you know I am a MTN customer? )

 

[Johnatan56]

That is one hell of a claim.
The salaries of their employees increases at around inflation.
Their equipment and capital goods costs also increase at inflation.

Yet the costs to their customer is still the same? You need some major evidence to back up your claim.


Why?
Oh right, market failure is when people actually do well. Got ya fam

Please give me a good and solid explanation of what you think a market failure is, with examples.

You want a market failure? I just have to point you towards the electricity and water markets in South Africa.
Eskom tells people that they must not buy any of their product because they cannot satisfy demand.
Municipalities tell people that they must stop buying water because they cannot satisfy demand.

Now apply this type of thinking to MTN and Vodacom.
Have either of these companies ever told their customers they must use less data because their networks cannot handle it? No they do the opposite, they spend millions trying to convince people to buy their products.

How much bandwidth does HSPA provide, how much does LTE and how much does LTE-A provide.

Think a little, in terms of employees that probably hasn't increased above inflation, and I doubt it increases far above the rate bandwidth costs have decreased. If you had concrete numbers you'd never give them as that would be a business secret, competition knows exactly where your break points are.

 

[DreamKing]

-- no capitalist will accept price controlling.
-- regulated capital market doesn't equal to restriction of capital market
-- maximize self-control vs minimize government influence.


I guess there are many people don't understand what capitalism is.

 

[rietrot]

I blame our educational system and a general loser, victim mentality mixed in with some socialist indoctrination.

 

[rietrot]

-- no capitalist will accept price controlling.

They will if they still make a profit.
Our petrol garages is a good example.

It's only a problem is tge price point gets set at a loss. No sane person will supply goods at a loss.

 

[marine1]

Business or charity?

Cartel

 

[marine1]

Cant believe after all the years of being ripped off people see this as bad? Maybe if VC and mtn didnt rape the country while offering cheaper services up north, it wouldn't have come to this. They should be fined billions for what they have done. OOB, remember it was told they couldn't do it? Then after threats of legal action or fines they suddenly found a way. These mafia cartels are just that.....cartels.

 

[Swa]

If the competition comm was serious, should they not rather force the release of spectrum?

So suppose they do and Vodacom lowers costs by 50% as they said they would? Would you be happy then?

 

[DreamKing]

They will if they still make a profit.
Our petrol garages is a good example.

It's only a problem is tge price point gets set at a loss. No sane person will supply goods at a loss.

price controlling by government? no!! never!!

I think you mean "price fixing".

 

[zulucat]

Cant believe after all the years of being ripped off people see this as bad? Maybe if VC and mtn didnt rape the country while offering cheaper services up north, it wouldn't have come to this. They should be fined billions for what they have done. OOB, remember it was told they couldn't do it? Then after threats of legal action or fines they suddenly found a way. These mafia cartels are just that.....cartels.

People do not know what they want, they inherently oppose whatever the government tries to do. No matter what it is...

 

[rietrot]

People do not know what they want, they inherently oppose whatever the government tries to do. No matter what it is...

Government price controls is never a good idea. It might seem so to uneducated people, but we have history and plenty of modern examples that show why it is bad that you can use as a case study.

If you wamt cheaper data be the grown-up and move away from mtn or vodacom.

 

[zulucat]

Government price controls is never a good idea. It might seem so to uneducated people, but we have history and plenty of modern examples that show why it is bad that you can use as a case study.

If you wamt cheaper data be the grown-up and move away from mtn or vodacom.

This is not price control - it's price regulation - these companies have been fixing prices for as long as they have been in business - so Mr Educated, it's not uneducated people who don't like to be fleeced, it's everyone. I imagine the government didn't thumb suck the directive to telecomms market to reduce prices, they know what we do not know - they also know that the directive can be challenged in court and if voda, mtn feel confident - they know they are free to approach the courts. People are so one-dimensional - it's saddening - look at the bigger picture.

 

[rietrot]

This is not price control - it's price regulation - these companies have been fixing prices for as long as they have been in business - so Mr Educated, it's not uneducated people who don't like to be fleeced, it's everyone. I imagine the government didn't thumb suck the directive to telecomms market to reduce prices, they know what we do not know - they also know that the directive can be challenged in court and if voda, mtn feel confident - they know they are free to approach the courts. People are so one-dimensional - it's saddening - look at the bigger picture.

Silly semantic games. Price control and price regulation is the same thing.

 

[zulucat]

Silly semantic games. Price control and price regulation is the same thing.

Fine, you can continue paying R149 for 1GB Mr Educated... A fool and his money

 

[rietrot]

Fine, you can continue paying R149 for 1GB Mr Educated... A fool and his money

You don't have to pay that. And you don't need the government to help you switch to telkom.

 

[Swa]

Government price controls is never a good idea. It might seem so to uneducated people, but we have history and plenty of modern examples that show why it is bad that you can use as a case study.

If you wamt cheaper data be the grown-up and move away from mtn or vodacom.

The so-called educated people are seemingly forgetting that cellular prices were regulated and approved right from the start. So why make an issue out of it now that they are reigned in for abusing the freedom they were given over the years?

 

[dominic]

If companies resort to predatory pricing practices over years and years, no one should be surprised when governments step in and take action. Long overdue that mobile data pricing returns to a cost related basis and that companies prove their case when required to do so.

If there is a case to be made for a higher price for prepaid versus post paid then prove it.

If their is a cost difference between managing smaller packages compared to larger packages, then prove it.

The noise the operators are making is precisely because they probably cannot and will never be able to do so.

And it has nothing to do with Communism either.

And it will be even harder to make the case based on normal supply and demand principals.
No, the only conclusion that can be drawn is corporate greed.

quoted for truth.

 

[Emjay]

Well ain't that cute...
BUT ITS WRONG.

Inflation is a product of money supply increases and nothing else.

He doesn't seem to understand that inflation is increasing operating costs for these telcos / ISPs.

 

[Geoff.D]

He doesn't seem to understand that inflation is increasing operating costs for these telcos / ISPs.

Well now, that is a topic for another thread.
Only relevant in this debate once the cost of data is shown to be cost related, proportional to costs with reasonable margins.
The inflation excuse is just too easy to use to justify price increases.

 

[Emjay]

Well now, that is a topic for another thread.
Only relevant in this debate once the cost of data is shown to be cost related, proportional to costs with reasonable margins.
The inflation excuse is just too easy to use to justify price increases.

How is it not relevant to the topic at hand? You seem to think that these telcos operate outside of the usual market forces. They don't.

But, I digress, you are right. Telcos operate in a free market, and basic economics dictates that demand will set the prices. If you want lower prices, get people to move to other telcos forcing MTN and Vodacom to reevaluate their pricing model.