The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled in favour of Vodacom in a dispute over the operator's advertisement claiming it has the fastest network for smartphones.
MTN laid a complaint with the ASA, contesting the claim's authenticity and arguing its own network was superior, but a tribunal dismissed the complaints.
The authority pointed to several reports that quote speed tests, showing Vodacom's speeds to be marginally better than its competitors.
The advert in question featured a child watching streaming a video on a smartphone and laughing as it played. Moments later, the video would pause a few times as it buffered, with the child crying as the stream is interrupted.
Another smartphone, bearing Vodacom's logo, quickly replaces the first and the child watches the same video streaming without interruptions. A closing voice-over then claims to offer "the best network for smartphones".
Previous bouts
SA's mobile operators have a history of throwing punches at one another using advertising, with MTN recently involved in a tit-for-tat ad battle with Cell C over interconnect rates.
The ASA upheld a complaint by MTN against a radio advertisement flighted by Cell C in February, in reaction to the yellow operator's stance on asymmetric termination rates.
The ASA found Cell C implied to consumers that MTN did not want its call rates reduced and that it was trying to stop the reduction of call rates, and ordered the withdrawal of the ad from the airwaves.
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