Dropped calls, while a nuisance, do not cost the consumer any more than a call would under ideal circumstances - that is, being completed without interruption.
This is according to SA's mobile operators and follows the ongoing gripes of "dropped calls galore" by South African consumers - who, it is no secret, pay some of the highest mobile rates and have to try and understand some of the most complex tariff structures in the world when it comes to choosing a suitable cellphone package.
While SA's operators do not charge a connection fee as such, consumers on per-minute billing plans are at a disadvantage when their calls are interrupted and they have to call back should they wish to complete their conversation.
Telkom Mobile notes it does not charge a connection fee, but says rather call charges relate to the terms of the customer's package. "Where the rate is per-minute, they will be charged for a minute and if the rate is on per-second billing, they will be charged only for the seconds they call."
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman says the company's reconnect service - 119 Reconnect - was set up to cater to its customer base on per-minute billing "to make sure they do not lose out".
"The nature of our radio-based technology is that from time to time connections do drop. The majority of our customers are on per-second billing, so while there's an understandable frustration factor, there's not monetary loss from dropping a call and reconnecting."
He says, however, that the service is not used frequently - something he puts down to the fact that "relatively few" customers are on per-minute billing plans, and the steps Vodacom is taking to reduce the incidence of dropped calls - rather than a general unawareness of the service.
Karin Fourie, executive head of communications at Cell C, says all of the operator's plans are billed per second, from the first second and, as such, customers do not end up paying more for dropped calls.
MTN, too, points out there is no separate connection fee payable by customers who experience dropped calls. Eben Albertyn, chief technology officer at MTN SA, says it must be emphasised that dropped calls can be a result of factors external to the MTN network as such. "Having said that, MTN continues to upgrade its technology on an annual basis across the country and this involves aggressive re-design and re-architecting of the network."
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