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Customer privacy
The issue:
As our customers become increasingly connected, and as
the ability to track and analyse consumer behaviour becomes more
sophisticated, the need to ensure the full and effective protection of
customer privacy and personal data has become more critical. This issue
has received increased prominence globally.
Material stakeholder groups:
Customers; government; industry
regulators; and media.
Our response:
Respecting the customer’s right to privacy remains a top
priority for us and is integral to our Code of Conduct. Our customers’ rights
are balanced against those of various security and enforcement agencies
that are legally entitled and required to request customer information, and to
instruct us to suspend service in certain circumstances. We manage such
requests in accordance with Vodafone policies, procedures and guidelines,
and with applicable local laws and regulations. As part of the Vodafone
Group, we contribute to Vodafone’s industry-leading law enforcement
disclosure report, which provides a detailed insight regarding demands from
law enforcement agencies in 28 countries. In South Africa, we abide by the
Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Network quality and coverage
The issue:
Maintaining network quality and performance is an essential
source of competitive differentiation. Unplanned disruptions in network
performance negatively impacts consumer sentiment, which is sometimes
rapidly disseminated on social media.
Material stakeholder groups:
Customers; government and regulators;
suppliers; employees; and media.
Our response:
To cater for the significant increase in data usage, we have
invested R11.6 billion across our markets to widen our 3G and 4G data
coverage, improve voice quality and increase data speeds. In South Africa,
our 3G coverage has increased to 99.4% of the population and 4G coverage
to 80.1%, with high-speed transmission extended to 92% of our sites. Routine
network quality tests confirm that we lead in most quality indicators. Our
International mobile operations now have 7 288 2G sites, 5 258 3G sites,
and 609 4G sites. Accessing spectrum remains a critical factor in further
improving network quality and coverage, and reducing data costs.
Investors’ perspectives on Vodacom’s performance
We engage regularly with our major investors; the following is a
summary of some of their key sentiments over the past year.
The ‘Bulls’
– seeing the upside in our performance
g
g
Strong management execution.
g
g
Positive earnings contribution from Safaricom.
g
g
Solid capital allocation, delivering best-in-class return on
capital employed (ROCE).
g
g
Strong network investment.
g
g
Sustained data growth potential, indicating future growth
opportunities.
g
g
Significant fibre and enterprise opportunity over the past
year to supplement growth.
g
g
Strong balance sheet capacity and cash flow generation,
to support both dividend and future acquisitions.
g
g
Generally improved investor sentiment following the
appointment of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The ‘Bears’
– identifying areas of concern
g
g
Concerns that the Electronic Communications
Amendment Bill threatens the current business model.
g
g
Impacts of ICASA’s pricing regulation and comments from
government on data pricing in South Africa.
g
g
General political and macroeconomic uncertainty
impacting confidence.
g
g
Potential impacts on anticipated BEE deal.
17
Our business
Our performance
Our governance
Administration