Stakeholder 'hot topics'

Communication costs (#datamustfall)

The cost of accessing communications services remains an ongoing concern for customers and policy makers. In South Africa, the cost of data received particular attention following a #datamustfall campaign launched in September 2016 by a South African radio personality. This culminated in hearings at a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on the suggested social impacts of perceived high data costs, where we highlighted the impact of our pricing transformation strategy, and our personalised packages aimed at giving customers greater value. We have various initiatives in place aimed at driving down the cost of data and encouraging customers to optimise the use of bundles. These initiatives include:

  • Reducing our out-of-bundle rates for prepaid tariffs by 25% (from R2/MB to R1.50/MB), and our out-of-bundle rate for all contracts to R1. Further price decreases are planned for this year;
  • Running targeted consumer campaigns to increase awareness on how to buy maximum-value bundles, check balances and more efficiently manage purchased data;
  • Empower customers to keep track of data usage and optimise value by providing free access to the MyVodacom app;
  • Improving our in-bundle and out-of-bundle smart notifications for customers;
  • Appropriately size customers’ bundle needs by recommending personalised offers to customers which are determined based on the customer’s previous usage behaviour; and
  • Providing zero-rated (free) access for Vodacom customers to certain propositions through Siyakha (a platform that assists in addressing the cost to communicate for those that need it most). These include career, education and health websites, as well as Facebook Flex, a free, text-based version of Facebook.

South Africa Integrated Information
and Communication technology
ICT Policy White Paper

In October 2016 the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services published the cabinet-approved National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper (White Paper). The White Paper sets out a framework on how the government wants to provide access to modern communications infrastructure and services to facilitate the entry of new players and the meaningful participation of all citizens, including those in rural areas. Its adoption will require various amendments to existing laws and regulations flowing from the Electronic Communications Act.

During May 2017, a high level agreement was reached between the Ministry and the industry stakeholders, providing for:

  • Assigned spectrum not to be returned, at least not before the end of the operator’s licence period, as was originally contemplated in the White Paper;
  • Licensees committing to buy a set minimum capacity from the Wholesale Open Access Network (WOAN) to ensure its viability;
  • A study to be conducted by the Ministry to determine the appropriate quantity of highdemand spectrum that will be necessary for the WOAN to roll out a 4G/LTE network; and
  • The remaining high-demand spectrum, after allocation to the WOAN, to be assigned to incumbent licensees through an allocation process yet to be determined, and possible inclusion of rural coverage obligations.

Increasing access and delivering social transformation through digital services

Given the obvious social benefits associated with improved connectivity, coupled with recent developments in digital technology in such areas as education, healthcare, financial services and agriculture, there are growing calls from government, regulators and consumers to further improve access to digital services. This is evidenced in particular, for example, by the South African National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper. Vodacom’s Vision 2020 outlines our goal of being ‘a leading digital company that empowers a connected society’, removing barriers to access digital and playing a transformative role in education, healthcare, financial services and agriculture. We already have many initiatives in place, including:
  • Our Siyakha platform, offering zero-rated portals for school learners, university students and job seekers;
  • Substantial investments in extending our networks into rural areas across our countries of operation;
  • Promoting commercially viable mobile agricultural solutions through our Connected Farmer platform;
  • Our groundbreaking M-Pesa programme that provides affordable access to financial services to more than 12.9 million customers, many of whom live in remote rural areas; and
  • Driving the availability of high-quality low-cost smartphones and tablets.

Customer privacy

As our customers become increasingly connected, and as the ability to track and analyse consumer behaviour becomes more sophisticated, there is a growing need to ensure the full and effective protection of customer privacy and personal data. Respecting the consumer’s right to privacy remains a top priority for us and is integral to our Code of Conduct. Our customers’ rights are balanced against those of various security and enforcement agencies that are legally entitled and required to request customer information, and to instruct us to suspend service in certain circumstances. We manage such requests in accordance with Vodafone policies, procedures and guidelines, and with applicable local laws and regulations. As part of the Vodafone Group, we contribute to Vodafone’s industry-leading law enforcement disclosure report, which provides a detailed insight regarding the demands from law enforcement agencies across 28 countries.

Network quality and coverage

We recognise that network quality and performance is a significant source of competitive differentiation. To cater for the significant increase in data usage, we have invested R11.3 billion across all our markets to widen our 3G and 4G data coverage, improve voice quality and increase data speeds. In South Africa, our network offers the widest coverage and the fastest data experience across the country; at yearend our 3G coverage increased to 99.2% of the population and 4G coverage to 75.8%. We also extended our high-speed transmission to 92.1% of our sites. Routine network quality tests confirm that we lead in almost all quality indicators. Our International operations now have 7 070 sites comprising 7 035 2G, 4 804 3G and 348 4G sites with high-speed transmission extended to 86% of sites.