Dr Onkokame Mothobi, RIA’s senior researcher is participating in South Africa’s Competiton Commission inquiry into the market for data services in South Africa – Data Services Market Inquiry.
The inquiry serves to examine whether there are features or a combination of features in data services markets which prevent, distort or restrict competition and/or to achieve the purposes of the Competition Act, No. 89 of 1998 (as amended) (“the Act”) – (Competition Commission, 2018)
Watch Dr Mothobi deliver a presentation based on our submission to the Competition Commission above. The main points highlighted by RIA in the submission are as follows:
- South Africa performs poorly in the RAMP Index, coming 35 out of 49 African countries. The cost of cheapest 1 GB in South Africa (USD 8.28, ZAR 99) is eight times the cost of cheapest 1 GB in Egypt (USD1.13). However, in a regulated data environment a number of other important factors are to be considered when comparing prices such as coverage and coverage of services.
- The dominance of MTN and Vodacom in terms of subscriber market share and revenue share allows these two operators to re-invest in their infrastructure and offer higher quality than the two small operators.
- Coverage and quality of service are important, with even price sensitive users choosing to pay premium for quality of service.
- Despite prices being high in South Africa as compared to other African countries, the After Access survey shows that South Africa performs well in Internet use, with about 53% of South Africans using the Internet.
