Vodacom has told MyBroadband that it strongly rejects any suggestion of collusion among mobile network operators in South Africa regarding the country’s new data expiry and rollover regulations.

This comes after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) told Parliament it was concerned about possible collusion among operators after observing certain patterns.

The communications regulator said its suspicions stemmed from operators’ identical pushback to the new rules governing bundles.

Published as part of ICASA’s End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations, both Vodacom and MTN launched legal challenges against these new mobile bundle rules.

ICASA also raised questions about their highly similar product offerings. In response, a Vodacom spokesperson said the mobile network operator rejects any suggestion of collusion.

“Operators are subject to the same regulatory framework and may independently raise similar concerns about regulatory changes,” they said. “This does not constitute evidence of coordination.”

“Vodacom’s decision to challenge aspects of the regulations was taken independently, based on specific legal and substantive concerns that have been transparently set out through the appropriate channels.”

The spokesperson also said Vodacom rejected any suggestion of collusion regarding their product offerings.

“Mobile products and tariffs also operate in a transparent environment. Tariffs are filed with ICASA, and product and pricing information is publicly available, including on Vodacom’s website,” they said.

“Similarities between competing products should therefore not be construed as evidence of collusion between operators.”

MyBroadband also asked MTN about the regulator’s concerns, but it hadn’t answered our questions by the time of publication.

Speaking before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, ICASA councillor Catherine Mushi raised the regulator’s concerns about possible collusion.

“We are seeing a pattern that could suggest that there is some level of collusion because we are not sure why it is that operators are affected equally by these rules in the same way,” she said.

“Why do they offer products that look almost the same that now get affected by these rules in the same way?”

Just an observation, said ICASA

Catherine Mushi, Councillor at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
Mushi noted that the regulator hadn’t conducted any investigations into the trends, emphasising that it was an observation.

“This is an observation that is concerning to us when we are saying there must be competition between operators offering different products. Now it looks like the products are the same,” she said.

This prompted criticism from DA MP Tsholofelo Bodlani, who said ICASA’s raising the concerns without providing interventions rendered it toothless.

Mushi responded but didn’t elaborate on any interventions the communications regulator would implement.

“We are seeing competing operators who seem to be coordinating their behaviour because they are raising the same objectives on the proposed rules,” she said.

“It’s on the basis of that that we are saying there could be possible collusion, and it’s not the first time that these regulations are pushed back.”

ICASA board chair Mothibi Ramusi said the regulator and the Competition Commission would be forced to investigate the issues as soon as they observed possible collusion.

“When we identify what we may say is collusion, we do have provisions within our legislative framework that give us power to initiate inquiries,” he said.

The mobile operators’ legal challenges against ICASA relate to the new rules on out-of-bundle usage, bundle rollovers, and bundle transfers, as well as the exemption for mobile virtual network operators.

ICASA published the new regulations in January 2026, and they take effect in January 2027. They include requirements that networks roll over specific unused bundles.

“A licensee must, at the end of the validity period of a bundle, roll over any unused bundle or portions thereof at least once, and subject the bundle rolled over to the same terms and conditions,” it said.

“The rollover of bundles must occur without requiring action and without incurring any cost to the end-user, provided that the number remains active.”

ICASA also wants operators to allow the transfer of full or partial bundles to any end-user who uses the same operator’s services.

For both rollover and transfer, bundles valid for 7 days or less, and uncapped, free, and promotional bundles are excluded.

Customers must also be given the option to opt in or out of out-of-bundle charges, and operators must apply bundle usage sequentially, from the earliest-expiry bundle to the next-earliest until depleted.

Source: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/662464-vodacom-rejects-any-suggestion-of-collusion-between-it-and-other-mobile-operators.html