South Africa's major mobile network operators have until January 15 next year to make the digital content of public benefit organisations (PBOs) data-free – or zero-rated – for users.
This forms part of legal obligations attached to the multibillion-rand spectrum auction, with expected revenues foregone factored into the bid prices by the network operators, held by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) in 2022.
However, Icasa has yet to indicate how it intends to hold operators accountable, said DG Murray Trust (DGMT) CEO David Harrison in a statement.
Almost every home in South Africa has a mobile phone, but many in poor communities cannot afford the cost of data.
“This means the tools for stimulating socioeconomic change are out of reach for millions of people in a country where barriers to connectivity and access to information and resources are a systemic choke which reinforces inequality,” Harrison explained.
