Vodacom Group [JSE:VOD] and MTN Group [JSE:MTN] shares fell after one of the competition regulators ruled that SA’s two largest mobile-phone companies overcharge customers for data – particularly those on lower incomes.
The two carriers bill more in their home market than in other countries in which they operate, the Competition Commission said in a provisional report on an inquiry that began in August 2017.
Customers hardest hit are those using smaller prepaid bundles, who tend to be less well off, the regulator said.
Exploited
“Lower income consumers may be exploited to a far greater degree relative to wealthier consumers,” said Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele.
The carriers must commit to reduce the price of sub-1GB packages to “within an objectively justifiable and socially defensible range” of current levels, he said.
Vodacom, majority owned by UK-based Vodafone Group, and MTN had a combined 75 million customers in South
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