Icasa Opens a Formal Inquiry Into Why SA's Broadband Still Costs So Much

South Africa's communications regulator has opened a formal inquiry into whether the country's telecommunications prices are actually affordable - and, if not, what's structurally driving that. According to TechCentral's reporting on 5 September 2026, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) published a notice in the Government Gazette under section 4B of the Icasa Act, signed by chairperson Mothibi Ramusi, giving formal notice of its intention to conduct a market inquiry into the affordability of telecommunications services.

That's a different, more consequential step than a report or a statement. A section 4B market inquiry is Icasa's formal investigative mechanism - the same type of process the regulator has previously used for its ongoing Mobile Broadband Services inquiry - and it can, eventually, lead to binding regulatory findings and interventions rather than just commentary. Worth noting for realistic expectations: Icasa's own page for that earlier mobile broadband inquiry, now listed among its closed processes, states the Authority aimed to finalise it "in the 2019/2020 financial year" - a reminder that these processes routinely run well past their original target dates, and this new affordability inquiry's own 2027-at-the-earliest estimate should be read as a floor, not a guarantee. For anyone paying a fibre or broadband bill in South Africa, it's worth understanding exactly what was announced, how long the process actually takes, and - just as importantly - what it doesn't change yet.

Per TechCentral's report, Icasa's stated purpose for the inquiry is "an evidence-based assessment identifying structural cost drivers, the impact on household budgets and possible regulatory or market interventions." In plain terms: Icasa wants to establish, with evidence rather than assumption, why South African households pay what they pay for voice and broadband, and whether that reflects genuine cost structures or avoidable market failures.

The inquiry's stated focus groups are specific - low-income households, rural communities, young people and informal-sector workers - which signals Icasa is looking past headline national averages toward the parts of the market where affordability pressure is most acute. The scope explicitly covers both voice and broadband services, and TechCentral's report notes it will examine mobile data pricing outcomes following the 2022 spectrum auction specifically - whether the pro-competitive licensing conditions attached to that auction have actually delivered lower prices and better access, or fallen short.

That connectivity-condition figure is part of why this inquiry has teeth beyond a general affordability gripe: it points at a specific, measurable case where licence conditions attached to a previous spectrum allocation - conditions explicitly designed to extend affordable access - appear to be significantly under-delivered against. If Icasa's own compliance tracking shows one in five obligated connections made three years on, that's precisely the kind of "structural cost driver" evidence a market inquiry exists to formalise and act on.

Market inquiries under the Icasa Act follow a structured, deadline-driven public process rather than an open-ended investigation. Every stage below is measured in working days, which matters because working-day deadlines stretch further in calendar terms than they first appear - South African public holidays and year-end shutdowns routinely add weeks to a working-day count that looks short on paper.

This inquiry doesn't come out of nowhere. It follows directly from findings this site covered in detail when Icasa published its State of the ICT Sector Report on 31 March 2026: fibre subscriptions grew a strong 22% for the year, yet South Africa's overall fixed-broadband ranking fell 13 places globally, and entry-level fixed broadband pricing was found to be the least affordable in the BRICS bloc. Those are the numbers behind the political and regulatory pressure that's now produced a formal inquiry rather than just another annual report.

It's worth weighing this notice against what Icasa has actually done with affordability findings before, rather than treating a market inquiry as a symbolic gesture. The regulator's original call termination market inquiry, which led to cost-based wholesale regulations under the Electronic Communications Act from 2010, is the clearest precedent: Icasa's own figures show the average prepaid mobile voice price fell 24% - from R1.37 to R1.04 per minute - between June 2010 and June 2012 alone, as that regulation took hold. A market inquiry that runs its full course has, at least once already, translated into a measurable, double-digit price drop within two years.

More recent history shows the same pattern still playing out on mobile pricing specifically. Icasa's December 2024 call termination rate review set a three-year "glide path" of further cuts: the wholesale rate large operators charge each other to terminate calls fell from 9c/minute to 7c in July 2025, is due to fall to 5c in July 2026, and bottoms out at 4c in July 2027 - with small operators' rates falling on a parallel, steeper curve. A separate Icasa rule mandates data rollover (unused data persisting rather than expiring) from January 2027 onward. Per Business Day's 31 August 2026 reporting, these measures already show up as real revenue pressure on operators: Cell C recorded an 11% (R174 million) drop in "other revenues" it attributed largely to termination-rate cuts, and Telkom's mobile interconnection fees fell 29% - from R157 million to R107 million - year-on-year to June 2026. Vodacom and MTN have gone as far as challenging the data rollover rules in court.

Read together, that's the context for this new inquiry: Icasa has a real, recent record of following affordability findings through to binding rules with measurable financial consequences for operators - strong enough that operators are litigating to resist them - but that record is almost entirely on the mobile side of the business. Fixed broadband, including fibre, has not yet had an equivalent binding intervention, which is precisely the gap this affordability inquiry appears aimed at closing.

Here's the part worth being direct about: nothing about pricing, packages or your current fibre contract changes today. A section 4B notice is the start of a fact-finding and public comment process, not a completed investigation, a price cap, or new regulation. Even on Icasa's own stated schedule, questionnaire responses aren't due until roughly 45 working days after the regulator answers stakeholder questions, a discussion document and further comment period follow after that, and TechCentral's reporting is explicit that written responses are unlikely before the new year - meaning any actual findings sit in 2027 at the earliest, with any resulting regulatory intervention further out still.

That's not a reason to dismiss the inquiry - Icasa's mobile-market interventions after past inquiries have historically produced real, measurable price movement, just on a multi-year timeline rather than an immediate one. It's simply a reason not to wait for it. If your own fibre bill feels expensive relative to what's actually on offer, the highest-leverage thing you can do this week is the same thing regardless of how this inquiry eventually lands: check what's genuinely available at your address via our fibre coverage map, and compare current pricing on the same network across resellers using our ISP comparison and cheapest fibre deals roundups - the same-network, different-ISP price gaps this site tracks are often larger than anything a year-plus-away regulatory finding is likely to move in the near term.

We'll update this article as Icasa publishes its responses to stakeholder questions and, later, its discussion document - both are dated, checkable milestones on the timeline above.