South Africans could soon be paying less for mobile data

South Africans could benefit from lower mobile data prices and greater competition under a proposed overhaul of the country’s telecommunications laws.

These changes come as part of the 2026 Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, which seeks to amend the Electronic Communications Act (ECA). The Bill is currently open for comment.

Bowmans legal experts – Daniel Pretorius, Claire Franklyn, Bradley Dunbar, Kalenda Opai-Tetteh, and Enock Mogajana – recently laid out the Bill’s contents.

The Bill seeks, amongst other objectives, to impose obligations on certain licensees to provide national roaming and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services on request.

It is also set to replace the “use it or lose it” approach with a “use it or share it” principle, allowing unused mobile spectrum to be shared with other operators

This will be done under the oversight of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), with a limited initial fee exemption, and will be particularly beneficial to smaller players such as SMMEs and community networks.

If the spectrum remains unused, ICASA can even withdraw it from the original license holder, though critics argue that the framework lacks the clearer, more comprehensive rules proposed in earlier drafts.

The Bill also seeks to enhance the facilities leasing framework for essential facilities and to provide for wholesale pricing rules and standards.

It also reflects a shift in the proposed regulation of electronic communications facility service providers, such as tower companies.

The previous Amendment Bill, the Draft Electronic Communications Amendment Bill of 2023, proposed introducing a new licence category for electronic communications facility services.

However, these provisions have been omitted from the current Amendment Bill, which means electronic communications facility service providers will, for now, remain outside the licensing and regulatory framework of the ECA.

Notably, entities can currently register with ICASA to obtain a licence exemption to provide electronic communications services on a non-profit basis.

The Amendment Bill proposes extending this exemption framework to the provision of electronic communications network services (ECNS).

Obligation to provide national roaming services and MVNO services

A potentially far-reaching aspect of the Amendment Bill is the introduction of mandatory access obligations for certain large network operators, the Bowmans team said.

The Bill requires South Africa’s largest mobile operators to open their networks to smaller competitors through national roaming and MVNO agreements.

This would allow new providers to enter the market without having to build costly infrastructure from scratch.

This could increase competition and consumer choice, potentially putting downward pressure on mobile prices, although cheaper data is not guaranteed.

These “access providers” are ECNS licensees that hold International Mobile Telecommunications spectrum and provide mobile network coverage to at least 90% of South Africa’s population.

In terms of the Amendment Bill, access providers must provide national roaming and/or MVNO services to any licensee or licence‑exempt person upon request.

Depending on the nature of the access request, a national roaming and/or MVNO services agreement must be concluded between the access provider and the access seeker within 60 days of the request.

ICASA is specifically empowered to request information from access providers on the ’underlying cost structure of the price of a service’ where this is in dispute.

ICASA tasked with setting detailed roaming and MVNO access rules

Under the Amendment Bill, ICASA must prescribe regulations to address access within 18 months of the Amendment Act’s commencement.

This period may be extended by six months in certain specified circumstances. These regulations will include, but will not be limited to:

• Relevant definitions (i.e., ’national roaming services’ and ’mobile virtual network operator’)
• The minimum quality, performance, and level of service to be provided by the access provider
• A reference offer or offers containing model terms and conditions
• Wholesale rate rules and standards; contractual dispute-resolution and termination procedures
• A determination of the identity of the access providers

ICASA is further required to prescribe international roaming regulations for the Southern African Development Community region and for specific countries or regions.

The purpose of these regulations is to enable the implementation of a reciprocal roaming framework, the Bowmans team explained.

Service providers in participating countries will be required to provide services on reciprocal terms and conditions, including by offering similar tariffs.

This will, in effect, facilitate market entry for entities seeking roaming arrangements and MVNOs that would otherwise be unable to compete with other operators due to the high costs of network deployment.

As such, they said the Amendment Bill appears intended to promote service-based competition and increase consumer choice for national roaming and MVNO services.

The proposed amendments will expand ICASA’s role in overseeing access terms and pricing, with a view to ensuring that such arrangements are fair, reasonable, non-discriminatory and cost-oriented.

New telecom infrastructure and wholesale pricing rules

The Amendment Bill is looking to tighten rules on how telecom infrastructure, such as towers and fibre, is shared by requiring operators to lease out “essential facilities”.

This aims to make it easier for smaller players to enter the market and potentially improve affordability for consumers.

The ECA already includes an obligation to lease electronic communications facilities and a requirement for ICASA to prescribe a list of essential facilities, Bowmans’ experts said.

However, the Amendment Bill requires that ICASA prescribe a list of essential facilities within 12 months of the Amendment Act coming into operation, with the list to be reviewed once every three years.

It provides that an ECNS licensee must conclude a facilities leasing agreement within 60 days of receiving a request to lease such essential facilities, with the parties agreeing to non-discriminatory terms.

At the core of the proposed amendments is an attempt to strengthen access to network infrastructure, including towers, fibre, and other essential facilities, which have historically been controlled by dominant operators.

The Amendment Bill revises the facilities leasing framework to ensure that access is no longer governed solely by commercial negotiation but is rather subject to clearer statutory principles and regulatory oversight.

The Amendment Bill also introduces wholesale pricing rules designed to ensure access charges are fair, cost-based, and not used to block competition.

It requires ICASA to prescribe rules or standards applicable to different types of electronic communications facilities, including essential facilities, roaming, and MVNO services. These rules or standards must be:

• Fair and reasonable
• Non-discriminatory, unless there are pro-competitive or efficiency justifications that outweigh the negative impact of the discriminatory practice on competition
• Cost-oriented or reflect the benefits of sharing costs amongst users sharing the facilities
• For essential facilities, be reflective of costs plus a reasonable return

The experts at Bowmans said the Amendment Bill reflects a legislative intent to entrench more structured, transparent, and pro-competitive access within the electronic communications sector.

By curbing pricing discretion and strengthening regulated access to essential infrastructure, the Amendment Bill seeks to lower barriers to entry and stimulate effective competition.

They said the success of the Amendment Bill will largely turn on the effectiveness of the accompanying regulations, which are to be developed by ICASA, and on the subsequent implementation by ICASA.

This includes its ability to strike an appropriate balance between ensuring fair access for new entrants and preserving sufficient incentives for incumbent operators to continue investing.