By Fatima Muhammad
Jeddah — Mobile phone subscribers are being urged through a social media campaign to stop using the services of a leading telecommunication company after it discontinued its unlimited Internet package for prepaid card customers.
The social media campaign asked subscribers of the telecom company to put their mobile phones on airplane mode for a couple of hours for a week starting from Oct. 1 so as to affect the company’s revenue.
Taking note of the popular campaign, the Consumer Protection Association issued a statement through its Twitter page that “all companies are required to listen to consumers, know their demands and deal with them.”
“International experiences prove that consumers wield strong power if they express their views and demand their rights,” it said.
The tweets came in response to a trending hashtag “we will let you go bankrupt.”
The hashtag is one of at least three others where mobile phone subscribers have been asked to stop using the services of a leading telecom company.
Earlier, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) — Saudi Arabia’s telecom regulator — said that service providers have the right to modify or stop any of their packages based on conditions that are specific for each case.
The use of prepaid card Internet service in the Kingdom surpassed that of the world usage, said the CITC.
This puts pressure on the network and reduces the quality of services provided to consumers regardless of the Internet packages they are using, it added.
Abdul Rahman Al-Inizi, a Saudi citizen, wrote on his Twitter page that if the campaign succeeds it will reflect on all other businesses.
Khalid Al-Alkami, an economic analyst, said that the campaign was an indication of society’s awareness.
Yasir Al-Osefer, an entrepreneur and a specialist in the Internet security, noted that the Internet services were costly in Saudi Arabia as compared to a number of countries like the UK and South Korea.
Farouq Al-Khateeb, professor of economics at King Abdul Aziz University, said that boycott strategies work around the world, yet they have not proven to be effective in Saudi Arabia.
