The Advertising Regulatory Board has upheld a complaint against Mobile Telephone Networks (Pty) Ltd concerning advertisements for its Shesh@5G service, particularly the contentious Shesh@600 plan.
A complaint was filed by a consumer who highlighted MTN’s advertised promise of 600GB monthly data for R399, only to discover through the fine print that half of the allocation depended on reliable access to MTN’s 5G network.
Due to inconsistent 5G connectivity, the consumer found themselves unable to utilise the 300GB portion designated for high-speed data. Instead, they were left with the remaining 300GB, capped at a significantly reduced speed of 20 Mbps.
MTN defended its marketing by pointing to published terms and conditions, emphasising that the plan consisted of two distinct bundles: 300GB at full 5G speeds, contingent on network availability, and another 300GB at restricted speeds of up to 20 Mbps. The company argued that the structure was sufficiently outlined for customers to make informed purchasing decisions.
Mandatory advertising revisions
Despite MTN’s explanation, the advertising watchdog sucrutinised the disparity between advertised expectations and real-world service limitations. The ruling found that while the company’s documentation outlined its dual-data structure, consumers typically anticipate receiving their full advertised data allocation without conditional network requirements.
In its findings, the Advertising Regulatory Board determined that MTN’s marketing implied unrestricted access to 600GB, leading customers to believe they could use the data regardless of connectivity challenges.
Consequently, the directorate has ordered MTN to revise its advertising to transparently communicate the dependency on 5G availability for utilising the full package. Future promotions of Shesh@5G must make these service conditions clearer to ensure compliance with advertising standards.
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