Battle of the Telcos: Vodacom and MTN Take Icasa to Court Over Data Expiry Rules
Vodacom and MTN have launched legal challenges against new regulations introduced by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), which deal with mobile bundle rollover and expiry.
“Vodacom has asked the courts to review certain parts of Icasa’s End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations,” a spokesperson for the network operator told MyBroadband.
“This is not about opposing consumer protection. We support the goal of ensuring South Africans are treated fairly, receive good value and know exactly what to expect from their mobile service.”
Vodacom stated that there were aspects of the provisions that are ambiguous, which may make the regulations difficult to implement in practice.
Icasa published the regulatory amendment in January, which included updated rules for bundle depletion, as well as rolling over and transferring minutes, SMSs, and megabytes.
Titled the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations, 2025, the new rules are set to take effect 12 months after their publication, on 23 January 2027.
Key Provisions of the Regulations
Out-of-Bundle Usage: Unless the customer opts in, operators may not allow any out-of-bundle (OOB) usage. Previously, OOB usage was permitted as long as the OOB rate matched the customer’s in-bundle price.
Bundle Rollover: At the end of the validity period, operators must roll over any unused bundle or portions thereof at least once. Crucially, bundles valid for 7 days or less, uncapped bundles, and free or promotional bundles were excluded from the minimum rollover requirements. This was a significant change from 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 a rollover.
Bundle Transfers: Operators must provide customers with an option to transfer bundles or portions thereof to anyone on the same network. Uncapped, free, and promotional bundles were once again excluded, but Icasa cracked down on some industry practices by stipulating that transfers may not be limited by volume or frequency.
Icasa Was Warned
During the public consultation period for the amended regulations, operators warned Icasa that it was overstepping its mandate. Among other things, they stated that Icasa was removing areas of non-price competition and product differentiation, leaving operators to compete solely on price.
Examples of existing market differentiation include Telkom already offering 61-day bundles and MTN automatically rolling over data on certain products. Similarly, Cell C allowed customers to extend the validity of data by purchasing a fresh bundle within the expiry period of their active bundle.
Icasa contended that it was not stifling or otherwise interfering with competition, maintaining that it “implemented a light-touch regulatory approach by merely prescribing minimum standards”.
Icasa has been planning to amend its End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations for over six years. Within 10 months of the initial regulations coming into force in February 2019, Icasa noted numerous complaints regarding 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, before officially initiating the amendment process in April 2022 by publishing proposed amendments for public comment. That initial draft proposed making 6 months the minimum validity period for bundles, which led to significant industry backlash; the final amendments differ substantially from the 2022 draft.
Operators Take Legal Action
Vodacom highlighted four key areas of concern within the amended regulations:
Out-of-bundle usage
Bundle rollovers
Bundle transfers
The exemption of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
“We support measures to protect customers from unexpected out-of-bundle charges and bill shock,” Vodacom stated. “Our concern is that the current drafting could require calls to end automatically once a customer’s bundle is depleted if they have not opted into out-of-bundle charging.”
Vodacom emphasised that the regulations should achieve the important objective of protecting customers while avoiding unintended disruption to critical or emergency communications.
Similarly, Vodacom supported measures aimed at reducing the forfeiture of unused bundles, but noted that very large Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) products presented a challenge. Vodacom explained that these products operate differently from conventional mobile bundles, and the regulations do not make provision for them.
“Some of these products are offered pursuant to legally binding commitments arising from the Maziv transaction,” it stated. “As currently drafted, the regulations may require changes to the design of these products.”
Regarding bundle transfers, Vodacom reaffirmed its support for giving customers greater flexibility with their purchased airtime and data.
“Our concern is that allowing transfers to an unlimited number of recipients could create opportunities for unintended arbitrage and the emergence of an unregulated informal market for bundles,” it said. “We have proposed safeguards that would preserve customer flexibility while limiting these unintended consequences.”
Vodacom also highlighted to Icasa that the regulations do not apply equally to MVNOs — service providers that run on top of traditional mobile networks, such as Afrihost AirMobile, Capitec Connect, FNB Connect, Standard Bank Connect, and PnP Mobile.
“We believe there is merit in a broader review of the rapidly growing MVNO market to ensure appropriate regulatory parity between infrastructure providers and MVNOs,” said Vodacom. It cautioned that the amended service charter, as written, would potentially result in inconsistent consumer protections and an uneven regulatory framework across the telecommunications sector.
A Step of Last Resort
“Before taking this step, we made concerted efforts to engage with Icasa to try to resolve these concerns,” Vodacom said. “We will continue to engage constructively with Icasa, government and other stakeholders throughout this process.”
Vodacom added that it was critical for the rules to be clear, workable, and capable of delivering the certainty, fairness, and protection intended for consumers, while preserving product choice. “Product differentiation promotes competition and enables operators to meet different customer needs while preserving consumer choice.”
Meanwhile, MTN confirmed that it served and filed review proceedings in relation to certain aspects of the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations on 22 July 2026.
“MTN remains committed to regulatory certainty, lawful administrative action, regulatory parity and the continued advancement of consumer interests within South Africa’s telecommunications sector,” the operator stated. “A sustainable and competitive communications market requires regulatory measures to be applied in an even-handed and proportionate manner across market participants providing comparable services.”
MTN stated that it would continue to engage constructively and in good faith with Icasa during the legal proceedings, adding that “the review seeks to ensure that the regulatory framework is lawful, reasonable, competitively neutral and practically implementable, while enabling the continued delivery of high-quality services to customers.”
Story: Jan Vermeulen, MyBroadBand
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