The Data Market Inquiry hearing, established to evaluate what creating high data prices, came after the #datamustfall movement gained traction, because of the mobile operators prohibitive costings restricting the advancement of lower-income communities.

Data prices in South Africa are exclusionary, as over half of South Africans would have to spend 15 to 40% of their income to buy 1 gigabyte (GB) of mobile data.

Other studies have shown said South Africans pay seven times more for data than consumers in other African countries, creating data discrimination.

This movement, led by civil society and research institutions such  Right2Know, Amandla.mobi, Project Isizwe and ResearchICTAfrica has become the de facto call to arms for South Africans to protest the Oligopy that is the South African Mobile Provider market. 

This session will explore the factors in South Africa that have led to this situation, the role of Social Media and what South African organisations and companies are doing to fight back.

This could work as a talk but would probably be better as a panel discussion with other members from the Global South who are involved with Accessibility, Data Costs, Community Networks and Social Media movements.