South Africans frustrated by the cost of mobile data have until 21 August to tell Parliament what they think of a bill designed to bring prices down. The portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies has opened written submissions on the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, draft legislation that would compel the country's biggest mobile operators to share unused spectrum and open their networks to smaller competitors.
Tabled in the National Assembly by communications minister Solly Malatsi on 22 April, the bill traces its origins to the Competition Commission's data services market inquiry, which found that weak competition was keeping data prices high.
Use it or share it
The bill's most consequential provision replaces the old "use it or lose it" approach to radio frequency spectrum with a "use it or share it" principle. Where spectrum assigned from 10 December 2021 onwards sits unused in an area for two years, the regulator Icasa must step in and allow another licensee to share it.
Community networks and small businesses are to be given preference as secondary licensees, paying no spectrum fees for their first 12 months. If nobody takes up the unused spectrum, Icasa may withdraw it from the original holder altogether.
The provision is timely: research from network measurement firm Opensignal found that South Africans spent just 3.7% of their connected time on 5G in the first quarter of 2026, suggesting plenty of high-value spectrum is not being sweated.
Opening the big networks
A second pillar creates the concept of an "access provider", defined as a licensee whose mobile network covers at least 90% of the population, which in practice means Vodacom and MTN. These operators would be obliged to provide national roaming and mobile virtual network operator services on request, with agreements concluded within 60 days. Where the parties cannot agree, Icasa must determine the terms, including by interrogating the underlying cost of the service.
Icasa would also be required to publish wholesale pricing rules within 18 months and a list of essential facilities within 12 months, an obligation that has sat unfulfilled in the Act since 2005.
Legal analysts caution that cheaper data is not guaranteed. Experts at law firm Bowmans note that the bill's success will depend on the regulations Icasa develops, and on striking a balance between fair access for new entrants and preserving the incentive for incumbents to keep investing in their networks. Written submissions close at 4pm on Friday, 21 August.
