The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies published new legislation on Monday that aims to introduce substantial changes to South Africa’s telecommunications sector.
Dubbed the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill of 2026, the legislation hoped to modernise the country’s digital landscape and lower network service costs.
The bill’s publication follows the department’s previous public consultation processes, which gathered feedback on draft proposed amendments in 2022 and 2023.
The bill included the following key mechanisms with the stated goal of fostering a more inclusive telecoms sector and making communication services more affordable:
- Mandatory sharing of hoarded radio frequency spectrum with secondary licensees, giving preference to small networks.
- Mandatory spectrum sharing and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) support from large network providers.
- Standardised municipal by-laws, including uniform wayleave processes, cost-based fees, and standardised terms for electronic communications facilities deployments.
- Mandatory leasing of essential facilities, including submarine cable landing stations, ducts, and high sites.
- Enhanced market competition oversight and collaboration.
The bill proposed introducing a “use it or share it” principle for radio frequency spectrum to prevent the hoarding of the valuable resource, which is the lifeblood of wireless communications.
Its application will be the responsibility of the sector regulator — the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
It will give Icasa the ability to reassign or share licensed radio spectrum that has remained idle for more than 2 years.
If the assigned spectrum is not used in any area for 2 years, Icasa can require it to be shared with a secondary licensee.
The regulator must prioritise community networks and small, medium, and micro enterprises when awarding the secondary licence.
The bill defines community networks as those that operate on a not-for-profit basis and exempts these entities from obtaining a licence, thereby lowering the barrier to entry for community-driven connectivity initiatives.
Secondly, the amendments will obligate large network operators to provide national roaming and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services.
The bill defines large network providers as those that cover at least 90% of the population with cellular connectivity. That currently includes Vodacom, MTN, and Telkom.
Simplifying municipal approvals and mandating essential facilities leasing
The legislation also required the Minister of Cooperative Governance to draft a standard by-law to support the rapid deployment of electronic communications networks across municipalities.
The by-law must include a uniform wayleave process, cost-based fees, and standardised terms for telecoms licensees to share municipal property and infrastructure, such as high sites, poles, and ducts.
Icasa will also be required to publish a list of essential facilities that will be subject to mandatory leasing within 12 months of the legislation coming into effect.
These facilities include submarine cable landing stations, ducts, and high sites that are difficult for competitors to duplicate.
The facilities must be leasable on non-discriminatory terms within 60 days of receiving a request from a licensee.
In addition, Icasa must prescribe wholesale price rules or standards within 18 months to support fair, reasonable, and cost-oriented pricing for facilities, roaming, and MVNO services.
The bill also aimed to strengthen competition oversight. Firstly, it will give Icasa greater power to conduct inquiries into market features that impede, distort, or restrict competition in the sector.
In addition, it mandated that a concurrent jurisdiction agreement be put in place between Icasa and the Competition Commission.
The agreement aimed to streamline how the two entities share confidential information, manage overlapping mandates, and enforce each other’s findings without conducting duplicate investigations.
Finally, the legislation will give Icasa the power to prescribe international roaming regulations relevant to the SADC region.
The Electronic Communications Amendment Bill of 2026 will first need to pass in the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
If it passes through these two processes, the bill will be sent to the President for assent, the final step before it becomes law.