The mobile operators have been cleared in the Idols SMS voting scandal; however, they are not yet in the clear over a recent flood of customer complaints.
MTN, Vodacom and Cell C have been called into individual closed meetings with the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), to explain what the regulator has termed “a concerning number of customer complaints” over network access, dropped calls and delayed SMS delivery.
The regulator has indicated that today's meetings are not a formal investigation. However, ICASA spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela says there have been too many complaints and the regulator wants the telcos to explain the situation.
It is unclear whether the regulator will release a formal statement on the matter, primarily because the meetings are not investigations. The regulator has also not indicated what action it will take on the matter - although this is likely to be affected by the outcome of the meetings.
ICASA has indicated it will clarify its position once the meetings have been concluded today.
Standing firm
Vodacom has consistently insisted no unusual problems have been detected on its networks.
Cell C says its rate for dropped calls remains under the required 1%, and it has no reason to expect any deterioration on its networks.
MTN was the only provider that admitted it had experienced higher volumes than usual. The company's discounted prepaid offering rocketed its user base, and it explained that it was in the process of sorting out the problem.
The telcos are expected to adhere to the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter, which requires networks to show an uptime of over 95%. Operators are also expected to have a 48-hour turnaround on consumer problems.
Telcos are also expected to issue regular reports to the authority, and it is likely they will present these to ICASA during today's meetings.
Not guilty
The large number of consumer complaints around delayed SMS delivery led many industry watchers to point fingers at the telcos after an SMS glitch during M-Net's popular reality show, Idols.
Over half a million votes did not reach the auditors before the cut-off voting times set out by the broadcaster, which created an uproar with fans who complained they had sent the messages in time.
The furore caused M-Net to declare a joint winner for the latest Idols contest, since the missing votes changed the original outcome of the show. Initially Sasha Lee Davids was declared the winner; however, the added votes gave Jason Hartman the title.
In interview with radio 702, the wireless application service provider handling the SMS line admitted the telcos had done their jobs. He indicated the real problem stemmed from a dedicated line bought by Naspers that did not have the capacity to handle the unexpected 2.4 million votes on the night of the final show.
An ex-MTN employee says the telcos could easily have handled the entire volume of two million calls, let alone a third of the messages.
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