Stop Cell Phone Profiteering! Join the “Right to Call” picket in Durban

WHEN: 11am to 1pm, WEDNESDAY 31 JULY 2013

WHERE: ICASA offices, Victoria Maine Building, 71 Margaret Mncadi Avenue (formerly Victoria Embankment street), Durban

Contact: Joanne Adams: 083 498 1583 or 031 260 2825

Why are we calling for cheaper airtime and data rates?

•  The right to communicate is a basic human right. Section 161b. of our Bill of Rights gives everyone the freedom to receive or impart information or ideas;
• For many people our rights only exist on paper, but 82.9% of South Africans have cellphones that could make our right to communicate real;
• SA has the 6th highest mobile phone charges in the world. Profiteering by the cellphone companies makes communication expensive for the majority of people;
• The cost of sms is about 2.6cents, so companies are making up to 3000% of profit on a sms;
• Prepaid users are often charged more than contract users, thus deepening inequality in SA;
• Cellphone services have been privatised. The market is dominated by MTN and Vodacom, and they set the terms of trade for the rest of the industry;
• The Consumer Protection Act says that prepaid vouchers must be valid for 3 years. However, many cellphone users loose money each month because their airtime, sms, and data bundles expire after one or two months;
• There is no transparency in the cost of communications, and it is nearly impossible to compare the prices of different packages across networks;
• The interconnection rates, rates that a cellphone network charges another network to terminate its calls on that network, are excessively high and benefit the domination by MTN and Vodacom;
• The responsibility of ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) is to regulate telecommunications, but it is weak, lacks independence, and is underfunded.

We demand our right to communicate:

• Communications must be universal. Everyone has a right to communications that are available and affordable
•  Everyone should get a free basic amount of airtime and data in the same way that we have free basic water and electricity;
• All SMS’s should be free as they cost the operators almost nothing to transmit;
• ICASA must regulate the cost of airtime and data to stop profiteering;
• Pre-paid communication users should not cross subsidise post-paid users;
• SMS and data bundles should not expire if they are unused;
•  Cellphone companies must improve the quality of service, including network outages, dropped calls, calls that don’t connect, and data coverage etc;
• The range of numbers that are free to call (like the police and ambulance) should be increased to our children’s schools, hospitals, etc.

To lend your support SMS “support” with your name and province or send a please-call-me to 076 728 7009.

All are welcome to take part in the above mentioned event! Come wearing RED & BLACK.

SMS “support” with your name & province
or send a please-call-me to: 076 728 7009
More information: www.r2k.org.za/right2call