Telecommunications firms Cell C and Telkom have offered assistance to students who are eager to study but are being prevented from attending classes as a result of the ongoing protests at the country’s universities.

Many universities have made lecture and study material available online, which spurred Cell C to offer students free access to university websites and online course material, while Telkom said it will provide data to students who cannot access academic materials owing to the ongoing students protest.

“We know students are facing a tough time at the moment and many need to gain access to course material through their university’s online portal to complete their academic year. Zero-rating access is our way of assisting students,” said Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos.

Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko shared this sentiment, noting that the universities and institutions were key to empowering South Africans and creating growth in South Africa. “We believe it is essential that students are able to continue their studies despite the current political climate.”

Cell C is in the process of contacting universities and will implement a reverse bill on their website URLs. Cell C will absorb the cost to allow students to access academic content for free. This means that even if students are off campus, they will be able to access the university website at no cost.

Meanwhile, Telkom’s solution enables universities to allow free access to academic content for students, even if they have run out of data or airtime. Telkom’s reverse bill URL service allows students using a Telkom mobile prepaid or postpaid Sim card to access content on a university website without paying for data consumption.

Students accessing academic material through Telkom ISP will also benefit from free data as Telkom already zero-rates this traffic.

Under normal circumstances, mobile data usage would then be reverse billed back to the institution – similar to the reverse-charges phone calls of previous years. However, during this period, Telkom has taken a decision to waive the data consumption costs until the end of the academic year.

Students who need to work off site can, therefore, do so even without the need to fund the data costs themselves.

“We hope this small contribution on our part will assist students to complete the academic year as we work together to build an equitable system for all,” Maseko said.