Electronic Communications: Numbering Plan Regulations Amended

Posted 01 July 2026 Written by Acts Online
Category Communications & Digital Technologies

Brought to you by SA Legal Academy: The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has gazetted the fourth amendment to the Numbering Plan Regulations under the Electronic Communications Act, No. 36 of 2005, establishing standardised rules for mobile number recycling.

The newly gazetted amendments are immediately effective, though ICASA has provided service providers with a transitional period of six months from the date of publication to implement the necessary technical and operational adjustments. The regulatory changes are accompanied by a reasons document detailing the administrative and consultative process leading to the final amendments.

The regulatory process involved multiple rounds of public consultation, beginning with an initial draft released in September 2023, followed by a revised draft in July 2025. To clarify the practical application of these amendments, ICASA subsequently published an explanatory media statement on 2 July 2026.

Key Regulatory Directives

  • Standardised Recycling: Establishes uniform rules and timeframes for the recycling of inactive mobile numbers across all licensed electronic communications service providers.
  • Transitional Period: Grants service providers a strict six-month window to align their internal provisioning and billing systems with the new standards.
  • Administrative Transparency: Provides a comprehensive reasons document detailing the submissions received and the regulatory rationale behind the amendments.

Click here to view the ICASA media statement detailing the amendments.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: No direct individual compliance obligations; however, professionals should remain aware of the standardised recycling timelines when managing personal or professional mobile-linked security credentials.
  • For your business: Review and update corporate databases, client contact registries, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) protocols to ensure that recycled mobile numbers do not compromise corporate data security.
  • For your clients: Licensed electronic communications service providers must audit their current number management systems and implement the standardised recycling rules within the six-month transitional window to avoid regulatory non-compliance.

Originally published at https://legalacademy.co.za/news/read/electronic-communications-numbering-plan-regulatory-amendments-gazetted

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