{"id":115843,"date":"2017-03-05T12:30:43","date_gmt":"2017-03-05T10:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=115843"},"modified":"2017-03-03T15:16:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T13:16:03","slug":"the-price-of-data-in-south-africa-is-not-going-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/mobile\/115843-the-price-of-data-in-south-africa-is-not-going-up","title":{"rendered":"The price of data in South Africa is not going up"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africans have a tendency to make out that something is worse than it really is.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0can\u2019t help ourselves \u2013 we\u00a0have to exaggerate the negative.<\/p>\n

The problem is, when you say something loudly and often enough, it starts becoming the \u201ctruth\u201d.<\/p>\n

One such lie being peddled, because people hate their cellphone operator, is that mobile data prices are rising.<\/p>\n

This goes hand-in-hand with several other inaccurate statements, such as \u201cthere is no competition to drive down mobile data prices\u201d and \u201cthey all offer poor reception\u201d.<\/p>\n

Stop it<\/h3>\n

People hating on service providers usually isn\u2019t a big deal, and I get why it happens.<\/p>\n

However, these \u201ctruths\u201d people tell one another have infected the national consciousness to the point that\u00a0government officials and members of parliament<\/strong><\/a> are starting to peddle the same rhetoric.<\/p>\n

If our government starts making policy decisions based on lies and half-truths like these, we\u2019re headed for serious trouble.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that you pay more than you\u2019d like for data, but data prices are not going up.<\/p>\n

Assuming that \u201chigh prices\u201d are due to insufficient competition or collusion is also incorrect, and may lead to disastrous policy decisions being contemplated.<\/p>\n

If you dissect each claim, you see where the\u00a0real problems lie.<\/p>\n

\n

Claim: Mobile data prices in South Africa are increasing<\/h3>\n

When folks say the price of mobile data is increasing, they may mean their usage is increasing \u2013 causing them to spend more.<\/p>\n

If that is what you mean, then say that. It is a fact \u2013 the price of mobile data across the networks is not increasing.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean South Africa\u2019s mobile data landscape is rosy, though, as prices for certain networks have essentially stagnated.<\/p>\n

Financial pressure on Cell C also forced it to increase contract prices and out-of-bundle rates recently.<\/p>\n

However, the latest mobile data deals from the networks \u2013 particularly\u00a0Telkom\u2019s FreeMe and FreeMe Family packages \u2013 show how much cheaper data has become.<\/p>\n

\"Vodacom<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Claim: There is no competition for Vodacom and MTN<\/h3>\n

When industry bodies like the GSMA warn that a relatively small market like South Africa probably can\u2019t sustain four operators<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 let alone players like Multisource and Liquid Telecom \u2013 a story is being told that Vodacom and MTN are a duopoly.<\/p>\n

Vodacom and MTN do dominate the South African market, but not due to a lack of competition \u2013 you can\u2019t just forget about Cell C and Telkom\u2019s mobile divisions when it is convenient.<\/p>\n

If you feel so strongly about Vodacom and MTN, change networks \u2013 go to Cell C or Telkom.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Claim: Reception is poor everywhere<\/h3>\n

Once again, there is no need for exaggeration.<\/p>\n

Dropped call rates and data throughput can always improve, and indoor penetration should\u00a0be better, but do not state that\u00a0South Africa\u2019s mobile networks all offer poor coverage.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s mobile networks reach nearly every single person in South Africa.<\/p>\n

Vodacom, for example, has over 99% 3G population coverage and 70% LTE population coverage.<\/p>\n

Give credit where it is due and criticism where it is fair \u2013 or\u00a0we may end up in a situation where policymakers cripple networks with burdensome legislation, or attempt to regulate prices in a competitive industry.<\/p>\n

\"OpenSignal<\/a>
OpenSignal cellular network coverage map of South Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

This article first appeared on MyBroadband <\/a><\/strong>and is republished with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now read: #DataMustFall was a sham and Touch Central sold out<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans have a tendency to make out that something is worse than it really is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":93205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_enabled":true,"_sma_x_custom_text":"","_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8812,2226],"tags":[5469,1975],"class_list":["post-115843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadband","category-mobile","tag-mobile-data","tag-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}