Justice for cellphone users
Jun 20 2008 10:25AM
Ben Kelly
Johannesburg - SA's cellular consumers will finally get some justice with the publication of regulations around cellular handsets by telecoms regulator Icasa.
The regulations which come into force from August 17 address among other things the subsidies paid by the cellular operators, the length of contracts and the ability to cancel contracts.
The most significant of the new regulations regards the cancellation of contracts. They state that that new contract subscribers must be informed what the cancellation fees are before they sign the contract. More importantly the cancellation fee must be in proportion to the length of the contract remaining and the size of the subsidy.
In effect this means that should you want to cancel your contract you will only have to pay back the portion of the subsidy that was paid to finance your new phone at the beginning of the contract.
That subsidy also has to be explicitly stated when you sign up for a new contract so new contract subscribers will know exactly how much money the cellular operators are paying to win their business.
There is also a stipulation in the new regulations saying that you cannot be forced to buy a phone from the network, unless the service that you want (such as a BlackBerry email service) requires a specific handset that is not supplied by anyone else.
More good news
In more good news for contract subscribers the networks cannot automatically renew your contract. They must be given the opportunity to renegotiate the terms and conditions of the contract before the expiry of the contract and the subscriber must be notified one month before the expiration of the contract.
The network and service providers are also no longer allowed to charge a renewal or upgrade fee and the retail store cannot charge you a connection fee when you take out a contract with them.
In terms of contract lengths the regulations stipulate that contracts may be concluded for periods ranging from 6, 12, 18 and 24 months but not more than 24 months.
The downside of this is that it appears to put an end to the 36 months contracts that the operators have been using to subsidise computers and data plans.
This is because the regulations define a handset as any terminal connected via a radio link which may be used by an end user to access electronic communications services.
However, it is possible that the service providers will simply bundle a credit purchase agreement with a cellular contract to get around this.
- Fin24.com
Jun 20 2008 10:25AM
Ben Kelly
Johannesburg - SA's cellular consumers will finally get some justice with the publication of regulations around cellular handsets by telecoms regulator Icasa.
The regulations which come into force from August 17 address among other things the subsidies paid by the cellular operators, the length of contracts and the ability to cancel contracts.
The most significant of the new regulations regards the cancellation of contracts. They state that that new contract subscribers must be informed what the cancellation fees are before they sign the contract. More importantly the cancellation fee must be in proportion to the length of the contract remaining and the size of the subsidy.
In effect this means that should you want to cancel your contract you will only have to pay back the portion of the subsidy that was paid to finance your new phone at the beginning of the contract.
That subsidy also has to be explicitly stated when you sign up for a new contract so new contract subscribers will know exactly how much money the cellular operators are paying to win their business.
There is also a stipulation in the new regulations saying that you cannot be forced to buy a phone from the network, unless the service that you want (such as a BlackBerry email service) requires a specific handset that is not supplied by anyone else.
More good news
In more good news for contract subscribers the networks cannot automatically renew your contract. They must be given the opportunity to renegotiate the terms and conditions of the contract before the expiry of the contract and the subscriber must be notified one month before the expiration of the contract.
The network and service providers are also no longer allowed to charge a renewal or upgrade fee and the retail store cannot charge you a connection fee when you take out a contract with them.
In terms of contract lengths the regulations stipulate that contracts may be concluded for periods ranging from 6, 12, 18 and 24 months but not more than 24 months.
The downside of this is that it appears to put an end to the 36 months contracts that the operators have been using to subsidise computers and data plans.
This is because the regulations define a handset as any terminal connected via a radio link which may be used by an end user to access electronic communications services.
However, it is possible that the service providers will simply bundle a credit purchase agreement with a cellular contract to get around this.
- Fin24.com
