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- Telecommunications companies are spending big on diesel to stave off load shedding.
- Diesel generators are among the solutions to keep networks up when the power is off.
- A telecommunications industry body applied to Treasury for tax relief on diesel.
- For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.
By the year's end, telecommunications companies operating in South Africa are expected to have spent R1.1 billion on diesel to keep operating through load shedding.
This is according to Nomvuyiso Batyi, the CEO of the recently founded Association of Comms & Technology (ACT), which produced the industry diesel expenditure estimate.
Senior representatives of Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, Rain and Liquid Intelligent Technologies sit on the ACT board. The association was founded in August of 2022.
As load shedding has intensified in recent years, telecommunication companies have spent big to ensure they are able to continue to operate.
Diesel generators have been installed at many tower sites to ensure service is uninterrupted by power cuts.
Batyi said telecommunications companies have been submitting data to ACT regarding the level of expenditure on diesel for backup generators at their towers.
She said that, last year, less than R1 billion was spent, but that was predicted to increase this year due to the increased frequency of load shedding.
The R1.1 billion mark has yet to be hit, but ACT is assuming that an average of Stage 3 load shedding will be in place until the end of the year, which should see spending breach that mark.
She said the recent increase in diesel prices means they may have to go "back to the drawing board" with the forecast.
READ MORE | Load shedding 'disastrous' for SA says Vodacom, as it looks to go private for its tower power
It is "inevitable" that the increased diesel costs for mobile network operators will be passed on to consumers, said Batyi.
Vodacom and MTN bemoaned the impact of load shedding in their most recent financial results.
Seeking relief
In June this year, ACT submitted an application to National Treasury in an attempt to get relief from levies charged on diesel.
"We made an application in June already to National Treasury, applying for the telecommunications industry to be considered for diesel rebates," said Batyi.
READ MORE | Here are the hidden costs that add to what you're paying for a litre of fuel in South Africa
A general fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund levy are added to every litre of fuel bought in South Africa.
Since companies buying diesel in the telecommunications industry do not make use of the roads, ACT is arguing that it should be exempted from some of the levies that are standardly charged.
As of yet, Batyi said, Treasury has not responded to its application.
