The Competition Commission has referred to the Competition Tribunal for confirmation as an order, a consent agreement reached with telecommunications group MTN over data prices.

The Commission had already reached agreements on data prices with rivals Vodacom, Telkom and Cell C following the outcomes of the Competition Commission’s data services market inquiry.

In April, MTN had announced its various data package changes while remaining in discussion with the Competition Commission on the options to legally formalise these elective solutions and the implementation thereof.

“The confirmation of the agreement with MTN means that all mobile operators have now formally ascribed to the voluntary commitments contained in the recommendations of the Data Market Inquiry for short-term price relief to consumers,” said Competition Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele.

“This successful conclusion of the first phase of recommendations could not have come at a better time given the greater reliance the public has on data during the crisis. The Commission can now turn to focus on the medium-term recommendations around regulatory and legislative change, as well as the development of free public WiFi and alternative broadband infrastructure,” he continued.

In terms of the agreement, MTN will reduce the price of its 30-day sub-1 GB prepaid data packages, with the 1 GB monthly bundle reduced to R99.

The group earlier reported that its 1 GB monthly bundle had decreased by 33% to R99 on April 15, with smaller-sized bundles set to get a 25% to 50% cut.

Effective May 1, MTN will reduce the retail price reductions across all its retail channels.

Further, MTN South Africa will provide each of its customers 20 MB of free data daily – 600 MB a month – through its instant messaging platform Ayoba.

MTN will extend its zero-rated data access to about 500 public benefit websites, including health, public universities, vocational colleges and educational resources, as well as employment sites, through its “OpenTime” service.

The agreement also directs MTN to enable all its customers, at no charge, to manage their data use through an MTN USSD and on the MTNApp.co.za website.