No Vodacom, Cell C was first

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has dismissed a complaint by Vodacom against Cell C’s claim to be the first to have launched Wi-Fi calling in South Africa.

Cell C’s print advertisement states: “New and Exclusive and Another SA first … introducing Cell C’s Wi-Fi calling.”

The company’s radio commercial states: “Cell C has done it again, with another exclusive innovation called Wi-Fi calling.”

Vodacom argued that it made the first commercial voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) call in South Africa on 4 June 2015.

Vodacom said VoWiFi was launched across the Vodacom network, although the service is currently limited to Samsung Galaxy S6 handsets.

“Vodacom has launched Wi-Fi calling some time prior to the Cell C launch. It is therefore factually incorrect that Wi-Fi calling is “new”, or “exclusive to Cell C”, or a “first from Cell C”,” said Vodacom.

Cell C responded, stating that while Vodacom’s network was capable of supporting Wi-Fi calls from June 2015, it did not offer the service to customers.

“Cell C is the first, and currently only, provider to offer the Wi-Fi calling service to consumers,” said Cell C.

Cell C submitted research, which involved interacting with Vodacom shops and call centres, which showed that Vodacom does not offer Wi-Fi calling to subscribers.

The ASA accepted Cell C’s evidence, and was satisfied that its Wi-Fi calling is a new service and that it was the first mobile operator in South Africa to offer Wi-Fi calling to its customers.

The ASA dismissed Vodacom’s complaint.

More on Vodacom and Cell C

We’re sorry our best effort wasn’t good enough: Cell C

Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom ditch consumer protection ombudsman

Best and worst tech companies in South Africa