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Over-the-top internet services, such as WhatsApp and Viber, could be regulated in South Africa, depending on the outcome of planned parliamentary hearings later this month, the respected Fin24 news site reports.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp’s popularity has increased in South Africa with over 10 million users, according to a recent report by World Wide Worx and Fuseware.
South Africa’s two biggest mobile networks Vodacom and MTN last year called for the regulation of the services, Fin24 reports.
“You have these players which are getting huge benefit out of an industry without making any investment. How do we level the playing fields?” an MTN official was quoted as saying at the time.
Parliament’s Telecommunication and Postal Services portfolio committee had scheduled a public hearing for 26 January to, among others, discuss “necessary policy interventions on how to govern” over-the-top internet services, Fin24 reports.
