South Africa's Icasa updates disclosure requirements for large telcos

AFRICAN BUSINESS AND ECONOMYJuly 12, 2024 at 3:42 PM UTC

TLDR

ICASA amends Electronic Communications Act to curb market power abuse in mobile retail sector, impacting MNOs like MTN and Vodacom.
New regulations require MNOs with significant market power to submit confidential documents to the regulator.
ICASA's notice in the government gazette on July 5, 2024, outlines the regulatory changes following submissions from major players in the industry.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has amended the Electronic Communications Act to prevent market power abuse in the mobile retail sector.

The new regulations mandate mobile network operators (MNOs) with significant market power (SMP), such as MTN and Vodacom, to provide the regulator with all confidential accounts, records, and other relevant documents related to their operations.

ICASA released a notice in a government gazette on Friday, 5 July 2024, detailing these changes. The notice followed written submissions from MTN, Vodacom, Telkom, Cell C, and the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA).

Key Takeaways

The South African telecom market is moderately fragmented, with major players including Vodacom South Africa, Telkom SA SOC Limited, MTN South Africa, Cell C Limited, and Saicom South Africa. The market also hosts various Internet service providers (ISPs), mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), and fixed-line service providers. Some South African telecommunication companies are competitive on an international level and hold strong positions in the global telecom space. The revenue for the South Africa Telecom Market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.32% over the next five years.

South Africa

Telecommunications

MTN

ICASA

Vodacom

Telkom

Cell C

ISPs

Telcos

Digital Infrastructure