Call to lower airtime costs

Cape Town – RIGHT2KNOW is to launch their latest campaign on Wednesday. They want cellphone companies to provide “free basic and affordable airtime and (internet) data for all”.

The campaign will be launched at a march from the Cape Town International Convention Centre to Vodacom, on the Foreshore, and then to Parliament from 9am.

On Tuesday, Mark Weinberg, Right2Know’s national co-ordinator, said they had realised that there were certain “bottle-necks” that prevented the free-flow of information, including secrecy from the government and the high cost of airtime.

Weinberg said although the right to communicate was a basic human right as enshrined in the Bill of Rights, it was still not accessible to many because of the high price of airtime and data.

South Africa has the sixth highest cellphone charges in the world and according to Weinberg, it is this profiteering by cellphone networks that makes communication too expensive.

“The government also has a critical role to play in regulating these costs and they have not been doing that properly,” Weinberg said.

“The cellphone potentially brings with it all the advantages of the democratising potential of the internet, including the ability to draw on vast amounts of knowledge as well as the ability to produce and upload content that can give a voice to those marginalised in society.”

More marches are planned for Joburg and Durban later this year. – Cape Argus

This article was written by Neo Maditla and it was published online by the IOL.