SA's biggest mobile operator, Vodacom, which has remained silent around the suspension of SMS facilities in Mozambique, has now confirmed the unprecedented move, citing legal obligations as its motivating factor.
Mozambique has been in the spotlight recently, with riots against food and fuel price hikes resulting in the death of 13 people who were caught in clashes between police and protestors.
A viral text message was identified by the country's authorities as a catalyst for the riots, prompting the Mozambique telecoms regulator to issue a letter to Vodacom Mozambique and state operator mCel with orders to suspend text messaging capabilities.
Initially, Vodacom remained silent on the situation; however, the company has since released this statement:
“Vodacom Group's subsidiary in Mozambique last week received an instruction from the telecommunications regulator to temporarily suspend SMS services in the country. The laws of Mozambique require the company to comply with such instructions and the company acted accordingly. SMS services were reinstated on Wednesday last week.”
News reports at the time said the two carriers obeyed the instruction on the conviction that it had been given by the government, as a decision framed in terms of national security.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck maintains that there are many arguments that would support such action, both in terms of SMS being used as a mobilisation tool for the protests, and in terms of the network operators being obliged to follow instructions related to national security.
However, he argues: “To take such a significant step, the operators would need to ensure that they are legally obliged to do so, and legally protected from claims that may arise from doing so.”
Not blameless
Despite the legal controversy surrounding the issue, Goldstuck slams both operators for the dishonesty and lack of transparency that is shrouding the situation.
“It appears that the operators didn't have much choice but to comply with the instruction. However, they should then have made this instruction public. Instead, not only did they try to cover up the reason for the suspension of the service, but they concocted a fake reason.
“The laws of the country do not extend to requiring businesses to lie to their customers. Transparency is a critical component of corporate governance, and the networks failed themselves in this regard,” he says.
“The networks have a responsibility to be transparent in their dealings with their customers. Compromise that responsibility, and you compromise your business.”
Related story:
SMS and the law
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