As a follow up to our recent article, most of us are aware that the competition commission recently took charge regarding the exorbitant data prices in South Africa. Will MTN actually reduce prices and offer free data and will these changes be set without it reverting back in a few months?
MTN South Africa CEO Godfrey Motsa has announced that they will be implementing price cuts in response to this. He has also said “This continues the work MTN SA has done to improve the affordability of data for its customers, having already brought the rate of data on its network down by 76% between February 2017 and February 2020”.
They have also announced that they would be using a new spectrum to transfer data which makes this all possible, saying “The release of new spectrum in South Africa is urgently needed and will greatly assist our ability to service increased customer demand in a more cost-effective manner”.
The most relevant changes will be in the following areas:
Free Data
Each customer will receive 20 MB of free data daily, or up to 600 MB a month through its instant messaging platform Ayoba which currently has 500 000 users and rising.
Cheaper Data
As of the 1st April 2020 the price of monthly bundles of 1GB and under will be reduced by up to 50%. The 1GB bundle itself will fall by 33%.
Open Time
This service will enable customers to access public benefit services for free through a link on the website. MTN customers will be able to use up to 500MB free on these public benefit service websites a month.
Zero-rated websites
These are websites that are free from data charge. At the moment these include schools and universities. MTN is aiming to amend this to include health, public universities, vocational colleges, educational resources as well as employment sites based on terms and conditions defined by MTN.