The end of April will mark the release of the Competition Commission’s provisional report into its data inquiry.
However, the finalisation of the investigation and the publication of the final outcomes will only be completed by December 31, months later than the initially planned March conclusion to allow the commission to delve deeper into the assessment.
The commission plans to undertake further analysis of extensive evidence gathered by the inquiry, invite submissions on the provisional report and engage in further consultations with key stakeholders.
“Having regard to the comments, submissions and information gathered by the inquiry to date, the commission has decided to further amend the completion date,” the commission says.
The scope of the inquiry, which aims to understand the general state of competition in data services and review the cause of high data prices, remains unchanged.
In August 2017, the commission embarked on a market inquiry into the high data costs, examining any features that prevented, distorted or restricted competition.
This followed widespread calls by consumers for lower data costs and subsequent queries from at least three Ministers over high data costs and data affordability.
The commission subsequently held public hearings in October 2018 – with the aim of publishing a final recommendation report by March this year – where the commission, as part of its evidence gathering phase, hosted nearly 20 market participants, companies, government representatives and associations.
Indications emerging from the public-hearing presentations are that poor South Africans are left on the periphery of the economy as they face price discrimination for buying airtime and data in the small quantities that they can afford at a time, and are disproportionately locaed in rural areas that receive poor network quality.
During the public hearings, the commission’s chief economist, Dr Liberty Mncube, said that the inquiry had four broad questions it was seeking answers to.
These included whether South Africa’s data prices were very high and, to the extent that data prices were higher than they ought to be, there were questions surrounding the factors driving this situation.
Further, the commission seeks to determine how these factors can be effectively remedied and what the impact of high data prices and access issues is on low-income consumers.
The inquiry aims to cover all relevant players in the value chain that contribute to or influence the price of data services and obtain a deeper understanding of the data services value chain.
It will also assess the state of competition in the market at every stage of the value chain for the provision of data services to identify areas of market power where consumers may be exploited or excluded, or where structural, behavioural or regulatory factors influence competition or pricing.
As part of the assessments, the commission will delve into the market structure, the general adequacy and impact of the current regulatory regime and the adequacy of regulations to promote new South African entrants, besides others.