{"id":309162,"date":"2019-04-05T07:24:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T05:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=309162"},"modified":"2019-04-05T08:39:46","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T06:39:46","slug":"new-mobile-network-rules-mean-online-video-is-better-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/309162\/new-mobile-network-rules-mean-online-video-is-better-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"New mobile network rules mean online video is better than ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ICASA recently implemented its new End-User Service and Subscriber Charter regulations, forcing mobile networks to implement various changes that benefit mobile network users.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most notable of these is the fact that mobile networks are forced to provide users with an option to block out-of-bundle data usage and must also provide notification options regarding the depletion of data.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/298024-new-out-of-bundle-data-rules-tested-vodacom-vs-mtn-vs-telkom-vs-cell-c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>recent test<\/strong><\/a> by MyBroadband found that all major mobile networks offered features in alignment with the new rules, ensuring that customers can avoid being surprised by large out-of-bundle data bills.<\/p>\n<p>Vodacom, for example, blocks out-of-bundle data usage by default, and sends users notifications at 50%, 80%, and 95% data depletion.<\/p>\n<p>Once you deplete your Vodacom data bundles, you will be locked out of mobile data usage (unless you consciously choose otherwise) and will be prompted to either purchase another bundle or activate Vodacom\u2019s \u201cData Refill\u201d option.<\/p>\n<p>This is great news for online video consumers, as it means that they can enjoy their high-quality content without the worry of a huge, surprising data bill at the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p>This deal, combined with the new ICASA rulings and Vodacom\u2019s implementation thereof, means that you can get access to some of the best shows around without having to worry about what happens to your wallet after you finish your data bundles.<\/p>\n<p>Showmax is in the process of rolling out new codecs which, according to MyBroadband tests, reduce mobile data usage by over 20% &#8211; meaning you save even more on data!<\/p>\n<p>Showmax is also in the process of implementing bandwidth capping as a default setting when mobile data is being used.<\/p>\n<p>For now, however, you can manually change the amount of bandwidth your Showmax app can use in the active stream settings while watching a show.<\/p>\n<p>Options include a 360p \u201cLow\u201d option and a 480p \u201cMedium\u201d alternative \u2013 both of which are still good enough quality to watch on a mobile device\u2019s display.<\/p>\n<p>Try Showmax for free for <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.showmax.com\/v97.3\/website\/signup?client_id=deengie8kebu0ohree2jae9eziejee8vaejie0ba&amp;response_type=token&amp;state=%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>14 days<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ICASA\u2019s recent regulations are great news for online video consumers, as it means that they can enjoy their high-quality content without the worry of a huge data bill at the end of the month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":309164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[26,36,10293],"class_list":["post-309162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-headline","tag-icasa","tag-showmax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309162"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309256,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309162\/revisions\/309256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}