Radio Islam News Team – 21/01/2016

South Africans have been hit with a curve-ball, after calls for the WhatsApp service to be regulated.

The Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services has scheduled hearings into the regulation of over-the-top (OTT) services in South Africa.

This follows calls by service providers Vodacom and MTN that OTT services be regulated in South Africa.

Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub and MTN SA CEO Mteto Nyati previously called for services like WhatsApp and Facebook that run “over the top” of networks to face greater regulatory scrutiny in SA.

Managing Director of World Wide Worx and Editor-in-chief of ‘Gadget’ Arthur Goldstuck says that network providers such as MTN, Vodacom and Telkom all receive money via the data costs consumers occur and says that this is the ‘dirty secret’ service providers don’t talk too much about.

“The more you use services like WhatsApp and other social networking apps, the more you spending on data, so they are benefitting enormously”.

“WhatsApp is in the forefront and you can somewhat understand why these mobile networks are upset, but apps such as TeamViewer, Google Hangouts and Viber are also in line to be restricted” Goldstuck told Radio Islam’s Ml Sulaiman Ravat this morning on Sabahul Muslim.

He says the problem is that people are replacing currently expensive services like SMS with instant messaging…

“So, an instant message to WhatsApp costs a fraction of a cent in data, whereas an SMS costs anywhere between 50 and 80 cents, so you can see what that does to SMS revenues very quickly”.

Goldstuck says the other area of concern for service providers is the emerging ability to use voice on Instant Messaging Services.

“The data used when making these calls on WhatsApp, BBM or Facebook Messenger cost way less than making a voice call nowadays, which is scaring networks”.

DO NETWORK PROVIDERS HAVE A RIGHT TO COMPLAIN?

Goldstuck says that this is how technology works as there is always new and better ways to do things and what network providers are trying to do is hold back the future.

“They talk about levelling the playing field, but the playing field has always been unlevelled in their favour and it’s now beginning to shift in the level of the consumer”.

However, major network provider Cell C is opposing the regulation, Goldstuck says if MTN and Vodacom were to block these services, people would flock to Cell C.

“Cell C sees it as a great way to serve the consumer, their whole stance in fact is pro-consumer and they also realise that it’s a great way to attract customers from the other networks” said Goldstuck.

Goldstuck says Telkom has been quiet in the whole proposed regulations, however they do support the stance of MTN and Vodacom as they also form part of the ‘lobby for regulation’.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR WHATSAPP USERS IN SOUTH AFRICA?

Over-the-top internet services, such as WhatsApp, could be regulated in South Africa depending on the outcome of planned Parliament hearings this month.

Goldstuck says both cell phone operators need to come up with more innovative solutions or face a possible public relations disaster that will portray them as being anti-consumer.

He says he doubts Parliament will pass regulations to assist mobile operators to obtain more revenue, however, the timing of the hearing is peculiar.

OTT services like WhatsApp have sky-rocketed in usage in South Africa with over 10 million users in the country, according to a recent report by World Wide Worx and Fuseware.

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 Listen to podcast : Data Regulation Impact On WhatsApp Users