The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has dismissed a complaint by Vodacom against Cell C\u2019s claim to be the first to have launched Wi-Fi calling in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Cell C\u2019s print advertisement states: \u201cNew and Exclusive and Another SA first \u2026 introducing Cell C\u2019s Wi-Fi calling.”<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s radio commercial states: “Cell C has done it again, with another exclusive innovation called Wi-Fi calling.”<\/p>\n
Vodacom argued that it\u00a0made the first commercial voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) call in South Africa on 4 June 2015.<\/p>\n
Vodacom said VoWiFi was launched across the Vodacom network, although the service is currently limited to Samsung Galaxy S6 handsets.<\/p>\n
\u201cVodacom has launched Wi-Fi calling some time prior to the Cell C launch. It is therefore factually incorrect that Wi-Fi calling is “new\u201d, or “exclusive to Cell C\u201d, or a “first from Cell C\u201d,\u201d said Vodacom.<\/p>\n
Cell C responded, stating that while Vodacom\u2019s network was capable of supporting Wi-Fi calls from June 2015, it did not offer the service to customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cCell C is the first, and currently only, provider to offer the Wi-Fi calling service to consumers,\u201d said Cell C.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The ASA accepted Cell C\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The ASA dismissed Vodacom\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re sorry our best effort wasn\u2019t good enough: Cell C<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom ditch consumer protection ombudsman<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n