Ask Vodacom Innovations Head Jannie van Zyl Anything

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Welcome to MyBroadband’s second “Ask Anything” discussion, where Vodacom’s Innovations Head and former iBurst CEO Jannie van Zyl will answer your questions.

There are some basic Ask Anything rules. A summary:

  • One question per post. If you have multiple questions, use multiple posts.
  • No personal attacks
  • No support questions (like “My Vodacom account …”)
  • No unsavoury questions
  • No trolling
  • No “Why don’t you answer my question?” posts
  • Keep it clean and civil, and ensure the discussion is constructive

Please post your questions in this thread. Jannie will start to answer your questions at around 12:00 today.

Please do not post in this thread after 12h00 - give Jannie the time to respond before you post any follow questions.

As this is the first Ask Anything discussion, we are giving away a new Google Chromecasts and a Raspberry Pi 3 to the two best questions, as selected by Jannie.
 
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Regarding Vodacom's FTTH / FTTB rollout plans...

Will it follow the same business process as all the other operators, i.e. cherry-picking to snatch the low hanging fruit? If so, have you not left it too late to enter into those areas?
 
What are the biggest threats which mobile operators face? Hence, what can disrupt the industry?
 
How much of a threat does OTT services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Skype pose for mobile operators?
 
If you were still in charge of iBurst, how would you make the most of the company’s resources? Would you roll out an LTE network, like they are doing now?
 
Will Vodacom offer a single product for a converged account, i.e. a 200GB data account that can be used on any of Vodacom's (on net) platforms?
 
Given that Vodacom has had more than 10 years to prepare for the threat that VoIP services pose to Vodacom's traditional voice revenue stream, and that back in 2004 Vodacom and MTN treated VoIP like a wild fire that needed to be stomped out with huge surcharges on VoIP data usage:

Why did Vodacom decide in 2015 to not embrace net neutrality and services that promote increased data usage, data usage which in turn already pays for Vodacom's network expansion+maintenance [albeit at a slower pace than investors might like], and is instead behaving like we are back in 2004?

I expect this sort of draconian backwards attitude from MTN, but not from Vodacom that used to be progressive and forward thinking.
 
Is Vodacom shaping customers' data traffic in any way when they use WhatsApp? Be it WhatsApp messages or voice.
 
If Vodacom was given unlimited spectrum in any band it desires, what would be possible in terms of speed on your mobile network?
 
Apart from spectrum, what is the biggest challenge for mobile operators to grow and improve their networks?
 
If vodacom has a congested tower what are the steps taken by vodacom to make the tower usable for every user on the tower? (data wise)
 
Why are vodacom looking for better LTE speed rather then improving HSDPA coverage & throughput in South-Africa
 
What will Vodacom do to prevent customers falling victim to “out of bundle” charges?
 
Why is Vodacoms contract pricing so expensive. It's clear that in pure minutes and data terms Vodacoms gives much less for much higher prices
 
Why is your data pricing (and expiry) so uncompetitive even while it becomes clear that data revenue is where growth is to be derived?
 
MickeyD said:
Regarding Vodacom's FTTH / FTTB rollout plans...

Will it follow the same business process as all the other operators, i.e. cherry-picking to snatch the low hanging fruit? If so, have you not left it too late to enter into those areas?
Click to expand...

Yes and no.

It's really a function of economics. When a new technology is rolled out, it's expensive and uptake is low (as it ramps up). It thus makes sense to deploy where you can get the best possible uptake; business parks and gated estates or other self-organizing communities.

This gives two things; fibre in areas where it was not before and economies of scale. Both these will enable the next phase; rolling out to individual homes in the area.

The current penetration is extremely low, so it's still early days for everyone. Definitely not too late.

In fact, we'll see a flood of 'fibre providers' enter the market with a consolidation phase 3 years from now.
 
Hello Jannie. Purchased data only last till the end of the next month. So if I buy 5 gigabyte of data for R399 and i only use half of it. The rest of the 2.5 gigabytes of data will expire. I will lose R199+-. So something that I have payed for I will not get. It is basically the same as buying a bread at a supermarket and if after 2 days I have not used all of the bread the supermarket comes and takes the rest of bread. Why does Vodacom and other service providers feel this is a good way to take money from consumers for service that was not completed?
 
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