Data Must Fall the Politics of Mobile Telecommunications Tariffs in South Africa

For three decades the government of South Africa has sought to make telecommunications universally available and affordable. In its last days, the National Party government persuaded with the African National Congress (ANC) there should be licences for two competing international groups to build GSM mobile networks, under an independent regulator, implicitly adopting a regulatory state model. Vodacom and MTN launched post-paid services in 1994, then in 1996 greatly widened the market with pre-paid services. The government licensed a third operator in 2000 and permitted a state-owned fourth operator in 2010, though neither had much effect on the market, because of weak regulation of the two entrenched mobile operators. The high charges and limited availability of fixed networks meant most citizens relied on mobile communications, though cost excluded some intermittently and many permanently. Despite growing use of mobile broadband, complaints about high prices became demands that #DataMustFall. The government pressed operators to cut mobile data prices and two ministers separately directed the Competition Commission and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to investigate and act. After three years the former identified discrimination against the poor and forced concessions from the operators. After a decade of delays by a string of ministers, ICASA prepared to auction spectrum in 2020, that would reduce operator costs and improve rural coverage, though most was designated for a novel and risky wholesale operator. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, spectrum was assigned temporarily to existing operators. Several years after recognition of the complaint, only the Competition Commission had delivered.