A dual pricing system, which South African cellphone operators have threatened to use to protect themselves against cannibalisation of voice revenue, has not been sanctioned by the communications regulator.
This dual pricing system would allow the cellular operators to charge one price for normal data traffic, such as email, browsing and downloading, and then bill traffic that was identified as voice-over internet protocol (Voip), for example international calls made via Skype, at a rate that is 10 times the standard data tariff.
Vodacom charges R1,50 per megabyte and MTN charges R2 per megabyte for normal data traffic, but they reserve the right to charge R10 and R25 respectively per megabyte for Voip traffic.
Vodacom and MTN claim to have submitted specific Voip tariffs almost two years ago, which were approved by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
However, Icasa says this is not the case. “Icasa, as a regulatory body, has never permitted any practice that could give rise to discriminatory or dual pricing,” said Icasa spokesperson Jubie Matlou. “According to our records there is no approval of that nature.”
The competition manager for Icasa, Nomvuyiso Batyi, says the rates in question specifically state that they do not include Voip. “It’s in black and white,” says Batyi. “It excludes Voip.”
MTN’s senior manager of data services, Brian Seligmann, disputes Icasa’s view claiming that the Voip tariffs were lodged and approved in June last year. “The information they have given you is incorrect,” says Seligmann.
Seligmann says MTN does have the technical capability to block Voip calls and charge them at the higher rate, but had not done so as yet. He says the rate was a precautionary measure to prevent the MTN network being swamped with Voip data, which would lower the quality of service.
“It is not about propping up the rate artificially, it’s not about blocking Voip,” says Seligmann. “We see Voip as a tremendous opportunity, not a threat. It will allow us to offer different levels of service to customers according to their needs, but it has to be done in a managed way.”
Vodacom spokesperson Dot Field says that Icasa approved Vodacom’s Voip tariffs almost two years ago, but that they had never been charged.
“Customers can download and use Voip clients such as Skype but will experience the typical ‘bursty’ nature of the internet leading to poor voice quality, and could be charged mobile Voip tariffs,” says Field.
World Wide Worx’s Arthur Goldstuck says the cellular operators are using the high tariffs to discourage people from using Voip, but the end result will be that they chase people from their cellular broadband offering to fixed-line broadband.
“It is very short-term thinking and it is very anti-consumer thinking,” says Goldstuck.
Rudolph Muller from consumer activist group MyADSL, says the high tariffs are just a safeguard to protect against new phones that may be Voip-enabled.
David Gale, director of business development for telecoms operator Storm, says these Voip rates were driven by fear, uncertainty and doubt about the impact of internet teleÂphony. He says he would like to see cellphone operators embracing Voip.