{"id":626830,"date":"2026-01-27T16:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T14:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=626830"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:47:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T07:47:19","slug":"new-mobile-data-expiry-rules-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/626830-new-mobile-data-expiry-rules-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"New mobile data expiry rules in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mobile network operators say they are scrutinising new regulations from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) regarding voice, SMS, and data bundles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCell C is currently reviewing the gazetted amendments in detail, including the implications referenced in the reasons document provided by ICASA,\u201d a Cell C spokesperson told MyBroadband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom also said that it was studying the amended regulations published by ICASA and would engage in due course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMTN South Africa notes the announcement by ICASA regarding the new End User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations,\u201d an MTN SA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are currently assessing the implications for the business. MTN will provide further updates in due course as more information becomes available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telkom also said it was reviewing the amended regulations and assessing its potential impact on the business and customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The group will be in a position to provide further commentary once this process has been concluded,” said Telkom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICASA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s in-bundle price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICASA clarified that this does not extend to circumstances beyond the operator\u2019s control, such as power outages, theft, or vandalism of the operator\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bundle rollover and transfer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the validity period of a bundle, operators must roll over any unused bundle or portions thereof at least once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, bundles valid for 7 days or less, uncapped, and free and promotional bundles are excluded from the minimum rollover requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe roll-over of bundles must occur without requiring action and without incurring any cost to the end-user, provided that the number remains active.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a significant change from the previous regulations, which permitted implementations such as Cell C\u2019s, which required customers to buy a new data bundle within the expiry period to trigger rollover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operators must also provide customers with an option to transfer bundles or portions thereof to anyone on the same network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch transfer must be subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to the original bundle,\u201d ICASA stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking away consumer choice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other things, they said that ICASA was removing areas of non-price competition and product differentiation, leaving operators to only compete on price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of this include Telkom already offering 61-day bundles, and MTN automatically rolling over data on some bundles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Cell C allowed customers to extend the validity of data by buying a fresh bundle within the expiry period of their current bundle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICASA contends that it is not stifling or otherwise interfering with competition and that it \u201cimplemented a light-touch regulatory approach by merely prescribing minimum standards\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six years in the making<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ICASA has been planning to amend its End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations for over six years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It published a regulatory impact assessment questionnaire for industry participants and stakeholders to complete in December 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICASA began the process of amending the regulations in April 2022, when it published proposed amendments to the Charter for public comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This initial draft proposed making 6 months the minimum validity period for bundles, leading to significant backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final amendments are significantly different from that initial draft, and it remains to be seen whether operators will challenge them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C say they are scrutinising new regulations from ICASA that govern voice, SMS, and data bundles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":615769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,40380],"tags":[355,97083,18090,42,109,41],"class_list":["post-626830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","category-trending","tag-cell-c","tag-end-user-subscriber-service-charter-eussc","tag-independent-communications-authority-of-south-africa-icasa","tag-mtn","tag-telkom","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626830"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":626909,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626830\/revisions\/626909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}