Johannesburg – The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has published its latest report on the analysis of tariff notifications submitted to it by operators to highlight different tariff plans (prices and product offerings) which were filed and/or existed in the market during the period of 01 July to 31 December 2017. The report further provides a summary on the various initiatives that ICASA currently has as measures to address cost to communicate in South Africa.

The publication of the report is aligned to Section 2(n) of the Electronic Communications Act No. 36 of 2005 which provides for ‘promoting the interest of consumers with regard to the price, quality and the variety of electronic communication services’. This is to ensure that there is retail tariff transparency, which could potentially encourage competition as it is likely to minimise pricing and product information asymmetries in the sector.

ICASA has also conducted some benchmarking study of data prices within the Southern African Development Communities (SADC) and BRICS countries to compare billing on various packages offered. A benchmarking of data prices (500MB, 1GB and 2GB) is included for some SA Mobile Network Operators who also operate outside of the borders. The inclusion of this benchmarking in the report, forms part of a comprehensive study that ICASA continues to conduct as a means to enhance its regulatory interventions towards addressing high cost of data.

Consumer protection remains high on ICASA’s regulatory agenda and this report will enable consumers to make informed choices and preferences when deciding which network operator to subscribe to, based on the network providers’ service offering.

The report is available on https://www.icasa.org.za/legislation-and-regulations/retail-tariffs-report-quarter-4-2017.

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For media enquiries, please contact:

Paseka Maleka

011 566 3455

079 509 0702 pmaleka@icasa.org.za