Vodacom, the South African telecoms giant, has agreed to reduce the cost of its data offerings by as much as 40%.
The move follows a finding that the country’s mobile data prices were the highest in the whole of Africa, according to a report issued by the Competition Commission.
In December last year, the watchdog warned both Vodacom and MTN that they would face prosecution if they did not agree to cut data prices within two months of its finding.
“Vodacom has agreed to a multi-year substantial reduction of monthly data bundles across the board. Effective from April 1 the price will come down by over 30% across all channels,” said a statement from the South African government.
The network is not expected to fight the Competition Commission but instead deal with the issues raised by it.
As a result, Vodacom has agreed to a two-year reduction on its monthly data bundles across the board.
Rival telecommunications groups MTN and Telkom are expected to follow suit within the next two weeks with their own proposals.
“We are talking to all of them and we are quite advanced in reaching agreements with both MTN and Telkom. I am hopeful that we will conclude this soon,” said Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele.
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