MTN CEO explains why mobile data is so “infernally expensive”

"It's like that because that's the way it is". I mean really. That's an utter non-answer and demonstrates how little actual creativity exists within the industry. It's like that because the cellular companies recognized that by selling bundles of data and expiring them, as well as selling small amounts of data and then charging high out of bundle rates is far more lucrative than being user/customer-friendly.
 
Agreed with marine1. Sick of this bull****, every year it's the same.
 
A load of BS! And the article contains hot air. It seems his only qualification as CEO is to talk trash. This is his way to tell the consumer to go away and he should be controlled and censured by his board of directors. Sasd if a CEO talks such vaporware.
 
Still a better explanation than Vodacom's "ever diminishing" blended rate while prices have been stagnant the last 5 years..
 
The real reason mobile data prices are so high is because the providers price data in such a way so as to strike a balance between simultaneously encouraging use of the network so that they make money, but also discouraging use so as to make sure that usage is not so high that it results in congestion on their limited spectrum. I don't understand why they don't just come out and say this.

There is an insatiable demand for mobile data so if it was as simple as just lowering prices the networks would make much more money by just simply lowering prices and making more money from the corresponding increase in supply. But the reality is that if mobile data pricing was lowered without any corresponding increase in spectrum and upgrade in infrastructure then their networks would come to a grinding halt.
 
The article was going great for a while:

Shuter said there are two problems with how data is priced:

- Entry-level pricing for data for someone who did not buy a data bundle on the MTN network is high.
- When a person goes out-of-bundle after depleting a data bundle, they are put on a high tariff.

He said there is a legitimate public concern regarding high entry-level and out-of-bundle data prices.
Click to expand...

And then he doesn't address those concerns at all. Great article.
 
I do it because he did it...wow!

daveza said:
So the answer is 'it is the way the industry has evolved over the years.' :confused:
Click to expand...

Exactly...that's a crap excuse.

We cannot boycott these companies and they know it.
What we need is a forth provided to come in and restructure the product offering forcing these dinosaur approaches out...like Uber to the metered taxi industry.
 
I'm on a at&t prepaid in the states. at $45 I got 6gb data, unlimited local calls. unlimited text messages.

cell companies in SA is a rip off.
 
joppenheim said:
Exactly...that's a crap excuse.

We cannot boycott these companies and they know it.
What we need is a forth provided to come in and restructure the product offering forcing these dinosaur approaches out...like Uber to the metered taxi industry.
Click to expand...

We don`t need to boycott them all, just one of them. force that one to change and they will have to break out of their price-fixing deals.
 
It just takes one of them to change the model and then everyone will.

Same way it will take one airline to fit the entire plane with business class seats and steal all the business before everyone else does it.
 
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