Third mobile operator Cell C has hit back at its competitors' nit-picking at its new network marketing, successfully disproving MTN's claims of delivering “world-class Internet”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that MTN's claims of delivering a world-class network and world-class Internet are unsubstantiated and must be removed from promotional material.
This comes shortly after Cell C's last run-in with the ASA, in October, when, following complaints form MTN and Vodacom, it was ordered to remove any reference to “4Gs” from its new network branding. The operator is appealing the ruling.
Late last year, MTN lodged another complaint with the ASA regarding Cell C's claim that its network was the fastest. However, MTN was unsuccessful and the authority dismissed the claim.
Now Cell C has turned the tables on MTN, arguing that the Internet speeds offered on the MTN network are not of world-class standard.
Cell C pointed to a study which placed SA 86th in the world on Internet speeds.
The operator argued that MTN achieves merely average speeds within the South African context - it is in fact the second-slowest provider.
“The speeds for the top 10 countries worldwide are between 17.49Mbps and 35.95Mbps. The speeds for the top 10 cities are between 40.33Mbps and 22.35Mbps. In contrast, MTN is currently achieving 1.99Mbps,” argued Cell C.
The operator stated that, in light of this, MTN simply cannot claim that it provides Internet at a quality or standard that would be considered high or among the best throughout the world.
However, MTN hit back with an extract from Wikipedia.org to show that countries around the world only started deploying HSPA+ technology towards the end of 2008, and the majority of countries, including SA, only deployed the technology in 2009 and 2010.
“Accordingly, our technology deployment strategy is in line with the strategy adopted by other countries around the world,” argued MTN.
MTN stated that since it is keeping up with the rest of the world in terms of technology deployment strategy, it is not improper for it to use the words “world-class network” and “world-class Internet” in its advertisements.
Unsubstantiated claims
The advert in question states: “We didn't just build a world-class network for the 2010 World Cup, we built it for you and your smartphone”, and “This is world-class Internet”. The advert also makes the claim: “This upgrade would give you faster e-mail, quicker online banking, Facebook and much more.”
The ASA ruled that this is a claim capable of objective substantiation. MTN would have to show that the Internet speeds provided by its network are of a standard that would be considered high or among the best throughout the world.
The authority found that MTN had not submitted any evidence that supports the claim that its Internet or network speed is of such a standard that it would be considered high or among the best throughout the world. Its network or Internet speed was, therefore, not shown to be “world-class”.
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