Vodacom launches 4G in South Africa, so what? iLIVE

Bang the drums and crash the cymbals! Leaving its competitors scrambling, by being the first mobile operator to commercially launch 4G-LTE technology in South Africa, Vodacom, as they put it, has made a 'major jump in mobile connectivity capabilities.'

Though I’m no journalist, in the interests of journalistic integrity, let’s clarify that “launched 4G technology in South Africa,” statement.

Vodacom has launched 4G technology in Johannesburg, in South Africa. Wait, what I mean to say is: Vodacom has launched 4G technology in 70 small parts of Johannesburg, in South Africa. 

Being the first to commercially offer this service, which will allow users to operate at more than double the speed of any existing mobile connection currently available in South Africa, Vodacom is very proud of itself and has every right to be I suppose.

Rather, as Vodacom smartly qualifies, it “has the potential to” allow users to operate at more than double the speed of any existing mobile connection currently available. The fact that there are only a handful of devices out there that could benefit from this new speed increase is by the by.

But let’s get real for a moment.

Whether rolled out across the entire country or the tiniest of villages in the North-West, it’s not really of any consequence that South Africa is now one of the few other nations such as Namibia, Kenya and most of the Western world which can boast having 4G technology.

If South Africa really means to get serious about tapping into the power of the internet, and by internet in South Africa’s context I mean mobile internet, break-neck speed is not what we should be looking at first, it’s cost.

We, down here at the tip of this vast continent like to see ourselves as the front-runner when it comes to digital developments and we do have a lot to be proud of, but compared to some of our neighbours up north we’re lagging behind in truly unlocking the power of mobile by mobilising the masses. By that I mean focusing on creating services for what the majority of users access rather than swanky and sexy iPhones and Samsung Galaxy SIIIs.

It’s no surprise that some of the most best African mobile developments which have successfully become a part of life for the everyday person, such as mobile money payment system, mPesa, have come from nations such as Kenya.

With a strong base in cheap data costs, it makes sense for Kenyan operators to be launching 4G technology. This, of course, has also been achieved in partnership with the Kenyan government, and getting South Africa’s government moving on technological innovations, or pretty much anything at the moment apart from house renovations , is not the easiest of tasks.

Having said that though, when a network operator -- and by 'a network operator', I am totally, absolutely, 100% not singling out the pioneering Vodacom which has gifted us with this wondrous 4G technology – is seeing, in just one quarter, a total revenue of R17-billion with data revenue having gone up by 150%, just how much incentive is there to push government for a change? Oh, and let’s not forget the R20 000 in data charges Vodacom issued me with for just over 100mb usage when visiting the USA for SXSW this year.

Seriously though, even if I am picking on Vodacom, the other operators are really no different and will be rolling out 4G soon. And let’s be honest; the “price war” between the mobile operators is more of a “skirmish” than “war.”

After doing a little calculation I figured out that if you are (un)fortunate enough to be one of Vodacom’s 4G customers, you could theoretically burn through R90 000 in out of bundle data costs in an hour.

As I was asked in reply to a tweet I sent on that observation  ; “How long before we see a really massive bill from someone influential who doesn't want to pay?”  Clearly he didn’t deem me ’influential’ with my R20 000 bill earlier in the year.

4G technology in South Africa is a wonderful development, if you’re a Vodacom shareholder, that is, or if the latest versions of 3G really are not fast enough for you (really, what the hell are you doing?).  For those of us truly interested in the development of South Africa’s mobile and internet industry in getting our nation truly connected, this is nothing more than another marketing ploy by another network operator. .. and to split hairs, this is not 4G either, it needs to be 10 times faster to be truly classified as 4G.

Network Operators, please call me when you finally open the doors to true mobilising of the masses by prioritising your efforts on lowering data costs. That will be a “major jump in mobile connectivity capabilities.” Then you can start boasting about speed with pleasure.