Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes has weighed in on the "Fair Share" debate raging in South Africa, saying network operators must be careful not to overpromise on products sold to consumers only to complain when those very same customers make use of what has been sold to them.
Speaking to journalists at an event held in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Mendes said the Fair Share debate is a valid opportunity for telecommunications carriers to find new sources of revenue, but this should be based on commercial agreements between the operators and so-called "over the top" OTT players - streaming companies like Netflix - and not a regulatory requirement that's forced onto the industry.
Arguments in favour of Fair Share have gained traction in Europe, where operators have complained that shrinking revenues combined with heightened demand for network traffic via OTT companies have place them under strain.
"Operators should create their products accordingly. Don't give someone 100GB 100GB night bundles or sell 1TB of data for R249 when your network can't handle it," said Mendes. "The view that this is an opportunity to find some revenue through regulator assistance has been the approach in Europe, but I don't think that's necessary, to be honest we build networks for them to be used."
A significant contributor to the costs faced by operators is the regulatory burden they face in having to comply to stringent laws applicable to the sector.
