Vodacom Agrees to Drop Data Prices by as much as 40%

South African telecoms giant, Vodacom has agreed to reduce the cost of its data offerings by as much as 40%. This is following a finding that the country’s mobile data prices were the highest on the continent, according to a report from the Competition Commission.

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In December last year, the watchdog warned both Vodacom and, equally massive contemporary, MTN that prosecutions were to be faced if they did not agree to cut data prices within two months of these finds, Reuters writes.

“Vodacom has agreed to a multi-year substantial reduction of monthly data bundles across the board. Effective from 1 April price will come down by over 30% across all channels,” reads a statement from the South African government.

According to the George Herald, Vodacom CEO, Shameel Joosub notes that the network will not fight the commission but instead constructively tackle the issue raised by the Competition Commission’s report on the prices.

Vodacom has agreed to a two-year reduction on the monthly data bundles across the board.

Furthermore, and accompanied by the decrease in data costs, Vodacom also says it will:

• Make available all of its current zero-rated services on one platform with an increased focus on consumers in poorer communities through “ConnectU” – all except for zero-rated Government websites.
• Give all prepaid customers 2 daily free SMSs if they had at least one revenue-generating activity within the preceding 30-day period.
• Allow free access to Facebook Flex. Customers will also be able to assess local and international news headlines as well as trends in the weather for free.
• Allow customers to view and apply for job opportunities through 7 zero-rated South African job websites.

By Luis Monzon

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