Competition Tribunal gives MTN data price settlement thumbs up
The Competition Tribunal has approved a consent agreement between the Competition Commission and telecommunications group MTN on data pricing.
The agreement comes a few years after the Commission launched a market inquiry into the high data prices in the country.
MTN will now reduce the data prices of its 30-day prepaid bundles across channels.
“MTN shall offer all its customers zero-rated access to certain PBOs and other websites, subject to a maximum of 500 websites, focussing on education, healthcare and job recruitment via MTN's own website, which shall be capped at 500MB per month per customer and be subjected to terms and conditions listed in the settlement,” says the commission’s spokesperson Siyabulela Mkunga.
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MTN will also implement price reductions across all its retail channels.
The commission published its final report in December 2019, finding that data prices in South Africa were high, noting several recommendations relevant to the consent agreement which it subsequently concluded with MTN.
These included recommendations in relation to tariff levels, data bundles, price discrimination strategies that adversely affect lower income consumers, a lifeline package for all prepaid subscribers and zero-rating of certain content, among other recommendations.
“The commission will institute on-going monitoring of pricing levels and profitability into the future until the market becomes more competitive,” Mkunga adds.