Late last year South African mobile service operators Vodacom and MTN were instructed to drop the prices of… well, everything from calls to data. They were given 60 days in order to do so and as of today, those 60 days are up.
They’ve been given a slight reprieve, however, as the Competition Commission has extended their deadline by another 30 days.
A good thing
The reasoning for the delay, the Commission said , is that it takes a while to get giants like SA’s two largest mobile operators moving. Vodacom and MTN together control around 70% of the cellular market.
The Competition Commission’s statement said, “Given that the engagements with the operators are at an advanced stage, the Commission has decided to extend the two-month deadline by one month to allow sufficient time to conclude these engagements.”
As a result of those engagements, expect pricing to fall “…in the region of 30-50%“.