Competition Commission’s data inquiry underway
The Competition Commission of South Africa has begun its inquiry into data services in South Africa.
It seeks to assess the state of competition in the market for the provision of data services amid calls for high data costs to fall.
The commission published the terms of reference of the inquiry in the Government Gazette today.
Spokesperson for the market regulatory body, Sipho Ngwema says the main objective of the inquiry is to obtain a clear understanding of data services in the value chain.
“We are going to assess the state of competition in the market at every stage of the value chain for provision of data services in order to identify areas of market power where customers or consumers may be exploited or excluded,” he says.
Earlier this month, the communications regulator Icasa published draft regulations preventing operators from expiring users' data.
“Costs faced and profits earned by fixed and mobile network operators and the benchmark prices for South African data services against those of other countries will also be investigated,” Ngwema says.
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The inquiry is expected to complete its work by 31 August 2018.