data bundles

Data ruling: SA cellphone users will be able to rollover unused bundles

ICASA has made a ruling that is sure to come as music to the ears of everyone using a cellphone in South Africa. Data bundles looking a lot more bearable now?

data bundles

Well, data hasn’t fallen but it looks like progress is being made. On Thursday, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) announced the final end-user and service subscriber charter regulations. What the hell does that mean? Let us explain.

“The End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations seek to protect the rights of consumers by, among others, ensuring that they are provided with sufficient information that will assist them in making informed decisions; as well as facilitate redress for those consumers who have been unfairly treated by network providers.” – ICASA

Read: SA furious as Vodacom makes R2 billion every month from data

Based on the numerous concerns raised by South Africans regarding data and cellular networks, ICASA has been under heavy pressure to act.

The new amendments include some great news about roll on data bundles and for providers to let users know when their bundle has been used up. This will then stop people being billed ridiculous out of bundle costs.

  • Usage notifications – all licensees are required to send usage depletion notifications to consumers when their usage is at 50%, 80% and 100% depletion levels. This will enable consumers to monitor their usage and control spend on communication services.
  • Rollover of data – all licensees are required to provide an option to consumers to rollover unused data. This is to ensure that consumers do not lose unused data as is the current practice.
  • Transfer of data – all licensees are required to provide an option to consumers to transfer data to other users on the same network.
  • Outof-bundle billing – all licensees are no longer allowed to charge consumers out-of-bundle rates for data when their data has run out without the consumers’ specific prior consent. This will ensure that consumers are not defaulted to out-of-bundle data charges which are significantly higher than in-bundle charges.

While many had hoped that ICASA would announce new maximum prices of data, the authority says more market research still has to be concluded before they can make such a judgment.

Be sure to pay attention to the changes your network makes going forward, the rollover periods will almost certainly be different per service provider.