MTN's router claims misleading, says Advertising Appeals Committee

THE Advertising Appeals Committee has dismissed an appeal by MTN South Africa, confirming that its Shesh@600 product, which claims to offer a “free-to-use” router, was not always “free”, thus this statement was misleading.

- ZELDA VENTER

COEDMORE informal settlement community leader Nkosinathi Mbanjwa explains their living conditions, where more than 400 residents have been living in shacks in and around the Coedmore Cemetery, with little to no access to basic services.

(TUMI PAKKIES Independent Newspapers)

MTN was ordered last year to either remove or amend its “free-to-use” router advertising.

This followed a complaint by a consumer that he was charged an “activation fee” of R553 before MTN could activate the router for use.

MTN subsequently appealed against the Advertising Regulatory Board Directorate’s ruling, which upheld the consumer's complaint by finding that the “free-to-use” router claim in MTN’s Shesh@600 home internet advertising was misleading.

The advertising in issue is a campaign promoting MTN’s Shesh@600 5G/ LTE Home Internet package, offering uncapped data with tiered speeds for a monthly subscription of R399. The offer appeared in a MyBroadband advertorial.