Cellular operators have ‘fleeced’ the public, says expert

Cellular operators have ‘fleeced’ the public

Industry expert suggests mobile operators fleeced users with interconnect fees

rpm said:

Industry expert suggests mobile operators fleeced users with interconnect fees

Click to expand...

It's hardly a suggestion. More like daylight-robbery :wtf:

In some ways I think it's unfair if one compares the loyalty that consumers have for ISP's and mobile service providers. We saw how subscribers jumped ship when some ISP's started cutting data prices once SEACOM landed, even though the pre-existing high data-rates were a consequence of the Telkom monopoly and not directly the fault of the average ISP. However, mobile service providers can jointly shaft the consumer with exorbitantly high interconnect fees in what can only be seen as a form of collusion, and the consumers appears (at least to me) to show a form of unwavering loyalty (probably because there is no alternative).

If one of the mobile operators slashed interconnect rates, would people move to that operator as users did to Afrihost, for example? Granted, it's not as easy to switch cellphone contracts as it is to move ISP.

Correction. Are fleecing. Nothing past tense about it.

And they will continue to fleece the public for years to come. Some ICASA officials have no doubt had their Christmas stockings filled and the Competition Commission investigation will come to naught for the same reason. The vested interests are high and collusion will continue.

hyperian said:

If one of the mobile operators slashed interconnect rates, would people move to that operator as users did to Afrihost, for example? Granted, it's not as easy to switch cellphone contracts as it is to move ISP.

Click to expand...

This has been stated many times before. If any operator drops interconnect rates on his own, he will be committing suicide. He is basically telling all the other operators to pay him less, with nothing in return, niks, nada! In fact, this operator's interconnect payments to other operators will remain the same, whlie other operators' interconnect payments to it will drop. This means the other operators are now able to drop call rates, due to cheaper interconnect rates, and customers will now flock in the other direction, achieving the totally opposite result. So there is no way you can compare dropping interconnect fees to an ISP slashing bandwidth prices.

That's why dropping interconnect rates has to be an industry-led cooperative initiative, or forced on all operators by the regulator, or government. In RSA, it seems we have a combination of both. It was going to be forced upon (and hopefully still will be) by ICASA and the PPC on Communications (in other words, guavament), the operators got scared, and decided to drop it co-operatively to a slightly lower rate, in order to appease guavament, ICASA, and consumers. No operator will take the initiative to drop interconnect rates, even if it means getting all the other players involved in the discussions. It doesn't serve their interests, or that of their shareholders. And when guavament is a shareholder in a company in any industry, that industry turns to sh|t.

What toxic said...They want to win customers, they will have to find other ways to do so.

Oh come on, how many 'expert opinions' are needed before the competition commission gets involved? They have colluded finish & klaar. That is illegal & punishable by law.

So my suggestion is instead of fining then some arb amount which probably won't affect them much anyway, force them to lower their tariffs thereby enabling them to plow something back into the consumers they've been 'plowing' for so long. CEO's being accountable to their shareholders for profits/losses means they'll have to start operating on a ethical as well as economical basis if they want to keep their positions & fat bonusses.

Win-win situation.