“Bad companies manipulate the system to only get what they want — the customer doesn’t matter.”
Cell C is not a bad company‚ CEO Jose Dos Santos seemed to be saying said on Tuesday in a statement denouncing its competitors MTN and Vodacom‚ who “lobbied Government to investigate potentially regulating Over-The-Top (OTT) services”.
“MTN and Vodacom have declared war on consumer interests‚” Dos Santos said.
“The infamous duopoly wants to limit how we use internet services like WhatsApp — and it has nothing to do with fairness‚ competition or the future of South Africa.”
He went on to deride the companies as “suddenly they are concerned with ‘levelling the playing fields’ – only now when they face competition”.
Vodacom has been reported as saying it is unfair that the OTT players “are getting huge benefit out of an industry without making any investment”‚ while MTN wants them controlled “because clearly they’re making a huge amount of revenue on top of the infrastructure that the operators have paid for”.
Dos Santos‚ on the other hand‚ said Cell C believes “that OTT services encourage consumers to participate more; the more they participate‚ the more they spend”.
“Cell C is still a business and must make money. But good companies adapt and change to create new opportunities for themselves and their customers. Bad companies manipulate the system to only get what they want — the customer doesn’t matter.”
Regulation‚ Dos Santos opined‚ would hurt customers as it “would impose new costs”‚ which will “either prompt OTT players to withdraw their services from South Africa or push up prices for the consumer‚ the very consumer that already pays for the data to use those services”.
“As it stands‚ Cell C does not support OTT regulation in South Africa‚ because the only losers will be the people whose money make us all successful businesses in the first place‚” he added.
He said MTN and Vodacom’s move seemed ironic “as both have historically resisted any attempt to ‘level the playing field’ in the mobile industry”‚ including fighting “number porting and the elimination of interconnect fees”.
“These are companies that have shown no interest in the welfare of the customers who keep them in business.”
Cell C CEO says ‘MTN and Vodacom declared war on consumer interests’
“Bad companies manipulate the system to only get what they want — the customer doesn’t matter.”
Cell C is not a bad company‚ CEO Jose Dos Santos seemed to be saying said on Tuesday in a statement denouncing its competitors MTN and Vodacom‚ who “lobbied Government to investigate potentially regulating Over-The-Top (OTT) services”.
“MTN and Vodacom have declared war on consumer interests‚” Dos Santos said.
“The infamous duopoly wants to limit how we use internet services like WhatsApp — and it has nothing to do with fairness‚ competition or the future of South Africa.”
He went on to deride the companies as “suddenly they are concerned with ‘levelling the playing fields’ – only now when they face competition”.
Vodacom has been reported as saying it is unfair that the OTT players “are getting huge benefit out of an industry without making any investment”‚ while MTN wants them controlled “because clearly they’re making a huge amount of revenue on top of the infrastructure that the operators have paid for”.
Dos Santos‚ on the other hand‚ said Cell C believes “that OTT services encourage consumers to participate more; the more they participate‚ the more they spend”.
“Cell C is still a business and must make money. But good companies adapt and change to create new opportunities for themselves and their customers. Bad companies manipulate the system to only get what they want — the customer doesn’t matter.”
Regulation‚ Dos Santos opined‚ would hurt customers as it “would impose new costs”‚ which will “either prompt OTT players to withdraw their services from South Africa or push up prices for the consumer‚ the very consumer that already pays for the data to use those services”.
“As it stands‚ Cell C does not support OTT regulation in South Africa‚ because the only losers will be the people whose money make us all successful businesses in the first place‚” he added.
He said MTN and Vodacom’s move seemed ironic “as both have historically resisted any attempt to ‘level the playing field’ in the mobile industry”‚ including fighting “number porting and the elimination of interconnect fees”.
“These are companies that have shown no interest in the welfare of the customers who keep them in business.”
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