Today, 7 August 2017, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa ("ICASA") published a notice stating its intention to amend the End-user and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations.
Of particular interest is the insertion of Regulation 8B, which introduces "out-of-bundle billing practices" and the "expiry of data practices". The regulations intend to govern the validity period and roll-over of data. For instance, data bundles of 1GB to 5GB must remain valid for 90 days. Bigger data bundles, such as 20GB and more, must remain valid for 24 months. End-users must also be provided with an option to roll over unused data before the expiry date.
If introduced, these regulations will certainly effect the business models of many electronic communications service providers.
Interested parties have until 19 September 2017 to comment on
the proposed regulations.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.