Legislation: Data costs promise? Still no action...

Amendments to the regulations on data bundle expiry and out-of-bundle business were released on Monday with an accompanying reasons document. At the time of writing they had yet to be gazetted, notes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch. However, once in force they will require all licensees to: send usage depletion notifications to consumers when their data bundles are at 50%, 80% and 100% depletion levels; obtain a consumer’s prior consent before charging out-of-bundle rates for data used once a bundle is fully depleted; provide consumers with the option to transfer data to other users on the same network; and allow them roll over unused data from month to month. Nothing is said about the vexed issue of high in-bundle data costs relative to those in other African countries. This despite the fact that 18 months have been allowed to pass since ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu promised consumers a ‘drastic’ reduction ‘to save South Africans from greedy operators’.

According to last week’s Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) media statement announcing the new regulations, in terms of Chapter 10 of the 2005 Electronic Communications Act’ (competition matters) data costs may only be regulated ‘after following the necessary steps’. The statement makes no reference to a Competition Commission inquiry into data services begun last August, although Chapter 10’s sub-sections 67(11) and (12) provide for collaboration between the two authorities. Instead, it notes that – following a process initiated last year to ‘identify’ markets possibly showing signs of ‘ineffective competition’ – Icasa has tentatively prioritised: wholesale fixed access services; national transmission and metropolitan connectivity; and the wholesale supply of mobile network services and radio access network services.