Telkom shuts down free Twitter claims

The Twitter streets have been noticeably quiet since MTN shut down it’s free Twitter service, leaving millions of users out of the loop as they cannot afford to use the micro-blogging site regularly on their own data.

Why is twitter so peaceful today? Dintsang????????‍♂️

— R.M Phoolo (@CassperNyovest) September 26, 2018

The offering began four years ago as a temporary promotion and remained in place until Tuesday night.

According to Jacqui O’Sullivan‚ executive for corporate affairs at MTN SA, their offering more than doubled Twitter’s user base which has previously been reported as a total of 5.5 million people in 2014.

Over the years, their free Twitter service was used by 13 million people who are now on the lookout for free or cheaper alternatives. This has led to a frenzy over fake news that claimed that service provider Telkom Mobile was looking to take up the free Twitter mantle.

Look pic.twitter.com/KwFF4dJSeb

— Maqhawe ???????? (@Gustav_Nd) September 27, 2018

Telkom has since denied the reports stemming from what can only be described as a fake tweet.

Hi. No, this is not true. We do however offer free WhatsApp, free SMS’s and free WiFi on our FreeMe packages. You can check here for more info: https://t.co/J8oSriBatg . ^Maggie

— Telkom (@TelkomZA) September 26, 2018

There are actually a number of fake accounts that have since sprung up looking to capitalise on the gap but none of them is an official Telkom account.

Fake accounts promising free Twitter on Telkom Mobile | Image: Twitter

From the 1st of October twitter will be free on Telkom in the whole African continent

— BEST DATA DEALS IN AFRICA (@telkominfoza) September 26, 2018

MTN’s removal of the free Twitter service seems to have left quite the gap but the question remains, who is going to fill it?

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