Vodacom, South Africa's largest cellular network, says it is standard practice worldwide for companies to offer their customers cheaper on-net calls.
The operator was reacting to a statement made today by Cell C, in which it said it had lodged a complaint with the Competition Commission because the practice of offering cheaper on-net calls was discrimatory.
Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman says it is globally accepted that consumers will pay less when making calls to other people on the same network.
"Cell C is apparently arguing for an increase in the price that Vodacom customers pay to call other Vodacom customers. It's hard to argue that increasing prices would be a benefit to consumers."
Cell C argues that the discrimination by MTN and Vodacom between on-net and off-net effective prices has a "dramatic" and direct impact on smaller operators' ability to acquire new customers.
CEO Alan Knott-Craig pointed out that, in many mobile markets around the world, regulators are opposed to differential on-net and off-net pricing, and in some instances, dominant mobile network operators are facing stiff fines for this kind of discriminatory pricing, which locks in customers and prevents switching.
"The two dominant incumbents discount their effective on-net prices substantially, while charging a premium for their customers to call off-net. This amounts to discriminatory pricing and is without doubt anti-competitive when adopted by dominant operators," said Knott-Craig.
"Customers that call off-net are being penalised often without them realising it. With number portability, customers don't always know if they are calling on- or off-net anymore, so they don't actually know what rate they are paying."
The statement comes four days after the Independent Communications Authority of SA announced new mobile termination rates and asymmetrical rates that favour smaller players.
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