The Wireless Application Service Providers' Association (Waspa) in South Africa has seemingly absolved mobile network operators from blame over the so-called leakage of data.
Waspa chairperson Casper de Villiers blamed the loss on the surge in data usage in the country as cellular users spend a declining percentage of their cellphone budgets on voice calls.
"Data leakage doesn't exist. It is a technical impossibility. If you consume something, it will be depleted. That's basic economics," explained De Villiers.
While South Africans are abandoning voice-based communication in droves, the organisation predicts that less than half of total mobile spend will be on voice calls by the end of this year.
"Consumers are learning how to budget for data usage and will soon realise that data is not 'disappearing' from their cellphone accounts," said De Villiers. Waspa has been looking out for the interests of the country's mobile consumers since its inception in 2004.
"We'll continue to safeguard the interests of cellular users. This includes monitoring the ever-expanding mobile horizon for any potential threats. Growing data usage isn't one of them," said De Villiers.