Vodacom cuts off about a million users

Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest wireless phones operator, cut off about a million users on Friday for failing to register their SIM cards under a new law in the country.

Under the new Regulation of Interception of Communication Act, mobile phone SIM cards must have been registered by 10pm GMT on Thursday to avoid being cut off from the network.

Vodacom, a unit of Britain’s Vodafone, said under a million subscribers were disconnected from its network but spokesman Richard Boorman said the impact on revenue would be minimal.

“Overall, I can say we’re not expecting a major revenue impact,” Boorman said, adding only a portion of those disconnected, frequently used their lines.

Vodacom’s rival MTN declined to disclose how customers were locked out of the network but said initial indications showed that the numbers were not significant.

“MTN is not in a position to disclose the figures of ... subscribers who have been cut off because MTN is in a closed period,” Eddie Moyce, customer relationship executive at the operator’s South African unit, said in an emailed response to Reuters questions.

MTN is finalising its half-year results and companies typically refrain from making comments on their balance sheets before the results are published.

MTN has about 19-million subscribers in South Africa while Vodacom boasts about 26 million users in the country.—Reuters