Vodacom: 1GB promo a win for data accessibility
Vodacom has defended its Sunday 1GB of free data promotional giveaway, despite an outcry from users about the operator’s network quality.
Vodacom’s promotional offer of 1GB of free data to all its customers formed part of the company’s twentieth birthday celebrations.
During the course of the promotion, users bemoaned a lack of data speeds.
@watkykjy said on Twitter: “What @vodacom gave you yesterday was 2 litres of hard, frozen ice cream and a straw. And 30 seconds to eat it.”
@Justpulse said: “We need to report @Vodacom to @icasa for misleading the masses about #VodacomGift retweet now or forever hold your peace #ICASA”
An independent test conducted by MyBroadband appeared to show Vodacom’s network buckling under the load.
On Monday, the operator provided the following statement:
“We’re still busy compiling the data so it’s difficult to comment in detail at the moment about the full reach of the campaign. One thing we are quite sure of is that this was a win when it comes to bridging the digital divide and making data accessible to a much wider proportion of the population.
“There are always things to learn from trying out new ideas and taking risks. We’ll definitely be spending quite a bit of time understanding those lessons and using the information to improve services.”
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