New mobile data expiry rules in South Africa
Mobile network operators say they are scrutinising new regulations from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) regarding voice, SMS, and data bundles.
ICASA published the regulatory amendment on Friday, which included updated rules for bundle depletion, as well as rolling over and transferring minutes, messages, and megabytes.
Called the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations, 2025, the new rules will take effect twelve months after their publication, on 23 January 2027.
“Cell C is currently reviewing the gazetted amendments in detail, including the implications referenced in the reasons document provided by ICASA,” a Cell C spokesperson told MyBroadband.
“At this stage, Cell C is assessing the potential impact on our operations, customers, and broader industry dynamics. We will have an informed position once the evaluation process is completed.”
Vodacom also said that it was studying the amended regulations published by ICASA and would engage in due course.
“MTN South Africa notes the announcement by ICASA regarding the new End User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations,” an MTN SA spokesperson said.
“We are currently assessing the implications for the business. MTN will provide further updates in due course as more information becomes available.”
Telkom also said it was reviewing the amended regulations and assessing its potential impact on the business and customers.
“The group will be in a position to provide further commentary once this process has been concluded,” said Telkom.
ICASA’s amendments streamline the regulations by repealing the separate subsection dedicated to data services and introducing a single set of rules for voice, SMS, and data bundles.
Under the harmonised rules, operators must send usage-depletion messages to end-users via SMS, push notifications, or other applicable means when depletion reaches 50%, 80%, and 100%.
They must ensure that customers can opt in or out of usage depletion notifications, buy additional bundles, and opt in or out of out-of-bundle usage charges.
Unless the customer opts in, operators may not allow any out-of-bundle usage. Previously, out-of-bundle (OOB) usage was permitted so long as the OOB rate matched the customer’s in-bundle price.
Bundle usage must be applied sequentially against unused bundles with the earliest expiry, until such bundles are depleted, and thereafter against the next earliest expiry of any bundle.
The validity period of a bundle must be extended when a network fault prevents customers from using their purchased voice minutes, SMS messages, or data.
ICASA clarified that this does not extend to circumstances beyond the operator’s control, such as power outages, theft, or vandalism of the operator’s infrastructure.
Bundle rollover and transfer
At the end of the validity period of a bundle, operators must roll over any unused bundle or portions thereof at least once.
Crucially, bundles valid for 7 days or less, uncapped, and free and promotional bundles are excluded from the minimum rollover requirements.
“The roll-over of bundles must occur without requiring action and without incurring any cost to the end-user, provided that the number remains active.”
This is a significant change from the previous regulations, which permitted implementations such as Cell C’s, which required customers to buy a new data bundle within the expiry period to trigger rollover.
Operators must also provide customers with an option to transfer bundles or portions thereof to anyone on the same network.
“Such transfer must be subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to the original bundle,” ICASA stated.
Uncapped, free, and promotional bundles are once again excluded, but ICASA cracked down on some industry practices by stipulating that transfers may not be limited by volume or frequency.
Simply put, customers must be allowed to transfer the entire bundle over any number of transactions during its validity period to any SIM on the same network.
Taking away consumer choice
During the public consultation period for the amended End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations, operators warned ICASA that it was overstepping its mandate.
Among other things, they said that ICASA was removing areas of non-price competition and product differentiation, leaving operators to only compete on price.
Examples of this include Telkom already offering 61-day bundles, and MTN automatically rolling over data on some bundles.
Similarly, Cell C allowed customers to extend the validity of data by buying a fresh bundle within the expiry period of their current bundle.
ICASA contends that it is not stifling or otherwise interfering with competition and that it “implemented a light-touch regulatory approach by merely prescribing minimum standards”.
Six years in the making
ICASA has been planning to amend its End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations for over six years.
Within 10 months of the regulations coming into force in February 2019, ICASA said there had been numerous complaints about the manner in which operators were implementing the Charter.
It published a regulatory impact assessment questionnaire for industry participants and stakeholders to complete in December 2019.
ICASA began the process of amending the regulations in April 2022, when it published proposed amendments to the Charter for public comment.
This initial draft proposed making 6 months the minimum validity period for bundles, leading to significant backlash.
The final amendments are significantly different from that initial draft, and it remains to be seen whether operators will challenge them.
While the amended regulations are prescriptive regarding data rollover and transfer, it gives operators freedom with personalised and promotional bundles, which may be enough to ward off a lawsuit.
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