PUBLIC COMMENTS IN RESPECT OF MTC’S NEW NETMAN
PRODUCTS (NETMAN TURBOBOOST) TARIFFS AS PUBLISHED ON 24 DECEMBER 2015 IN THE
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE NO. 5908 GENERAL NOTICE 568
Allow me to
first state that it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to be
involved in the process of tariff determinations and other matters before CRAN
as there are no consumer organization receiving funds to assist them in doing
work on behalf of the consumer. Most consumer activists are doing the work on
behalf of consumers only when the time allows and thus we will find that big
corporations will increasingly get away with unfair business practices. Perhaps
CRAN should consider the idea of using funds from the Universal Service Fund to
assist consumer organisations with their activities.
The Namibia
Consumer Protection Group (NCPG) requests CRAN to have public hearings on MTC’S
new NETMAN products (NETMAN Turboboost) tariffs as published on 24 December
2015 in the Government Gazette NO. 5908 General Notice 568.
The
proposed tariffs are discriminatory in nature and unfairly penalise the lowest
income earners and will make the data usage eight times more expensive than for
the data charged to the high-end market user.
COMPARISON OF PRODUCTS
- MTC proposes to charge the lowest cost package at N$ 179 per month for 2 gigabyte of data. That means a cost of N$ 89.50 per gigabyte.
- The top-end "Unlimited" package costs N$ 999 per month for 90 gigabyte of data. That means a cost of N$ 11.10 per gigabyte.
Data costs
are sold at a profit, so assuming the N$ 11.10 per gigabyte is already making a
profit, why is MTC making an additional N$ 78.40 per gigabyte off the lowest
income earners?
See graph
for comparisons of all packages.
The NCPG
would like to see this issue being discussed with as many consumers as possible
and would request CRAN to allow public debate on the matter.
I thank
CRAN for allowing us this extension on comments in this matter.
Kind
regards
Milton Louw
Executive
Director
NAMIBIA
CONSUMER PROTECTION GROUP
