The news has come from the Competition Commissioner Thembinkosi Bonakele that data prices are to decrease with Vodacom starting at reducing monthly data prices by 30% from beginning April 2020.
This comes after Deputy Commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu had said that the Competition Committee had instructed Vodacom and MTN to reduce their prices by at least 50% and 30% respectively. The regulator has been tough on companies who are charging South African excessive prices for data, especially when compared to other African counterparts, and this just to stay connected. data prices are to decrease
They must also each reach an agreement within two months to reduce the headline prices of all sub-500MB 30-day prepaid data bundles to reflect the same cost per MB as the 500MB 30-day bundle.
Vodacom’s prices are set to go down by 30% to 40% depending on the service.
1GB of data valid for 30 days will go from R149 to R99 per 1GB.
It is unclear how this will affect contract holders and any other packages but we are hopeful that since data prices are to decrease, new pricelists will be released for package users soon.
We will be keeping up with this story as it unfolds. So, stay tuned.