Mobile operators will have to give subscribers clear warning — and at least two reminders — before deactivating a dormant number under new rules published by communications regulator Icasa.

The numbering plan (fourth amendment) regulations, gazetted on 1 July, create a standardised, sector-wide framework for how operators deactivate and recycle mobile numbers that have fallen out of use. Icasa said the aim is to ensure the efficient use of numbering resources while protecting consumers from losing their numbers without adequate notice.

Under the rules, a number is treated as inactive once it has gone 90 consecutive days without what the regulations call a “revenue-generating activity” — a category that covers voice calls, SMS, MMS, mobile data and value-added services. But the process a subscriber experiences starts earlier.

A licensee must notify a subscriber of its intention to deactivate a number after 60 consecutive days without any such activity, then allow a 30-day grace period in which to use it. During that window, the operator must send at least two reminders, including one the day before the number is switched off.

Post-paid subscribers are exempted from the deactivation trigger. Once a prepaid number is deactivated, it must be quarantined for one month before being returned to the pool of available numbers.

The regulations also allow subscribers who expect to be inactive — for instance, while travelling abroad — to apply for an exemption to retain their number for 183 days.

No to fees

It was over that exemption that a sharp disagreement played out. MTN argued that operators should be permitted to charge a nominal fee for the retention, saying it incurs costs to host a dormant number and warning that a free service could be abused by subscribers gaming the inactivity period. FNB Connect raised a similar concern.

However, Icasa said operators already run inactivity processes at no cost, and noted that most licensees had themselves argued for longer inactivity periods — an indication, the regulator said, that the cost of retaining a customer is negligible compared with acquiring a new one. The provision for a free exemption was retained.

Read: Icasa’s blunt message to Starlink and other satellite operators

Operators also failed to move Icasa on the recycling timeline. Vodacom pushed for the quarantine period to be cut to seven days and the inactivity period extended to 90 days, while Cell C wanted a 90-day quarantine with an added 30 days for churn processing.

Icasa rejected both, saying Cell C’s proposal would stretch the recycling period to 210 days and that Vodacom’s approach would produce an undefined, inconsistent period across operators. It held the inactivity trigger at a defined 60 days.

The regulator received five written submissions on the draft, from Cell C, FNB Connect, MTN, Telkom and Vodacom.

Icasa has given operators a six-month transitional period from the date of publication to make the necessary network and system changes, meaning the rules take full effect around the start of January 2027. MTN had asked for three months. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media