Telecommunications infrastructure theft and power outages continue to hold back connectivity in South Africa, with the cost burden on mobile and fibre operators more than doubling in a year.
According to communications regulator Icasa’s latest State of the ICT Sector report, published last week, the rate of telecoms equipment theft grew significantly between 2024 and 2025.
“The major shift between 2024 and 2025 highlights changing security challenges in the sector. Theft increased from R69.6-million to R201.5-million, a 189% rise, making it the dominant cost driver in 2025. This surge may reflect increased cable theft, equipment resale markets, or weaknesses in infrastructure protection,” Icasa said in the report.
In compiling the report, Icasa drew on data from Statistics South Africa’s General Household Survey 2024, the International Telecommunication Union’s 2024 and 2025 reports, an Ookla report, and the regulator’s own questionnaire, which gathered data from licensees up to September 2025.
Operators also spent more on backup power equipment such as batteries and generators – and on the diesel needed to run them. Sector-wide battery costs rose from R173.8-million in 2024 to R387.7-million in 2025, an increase of about R214-million. The number of batteries purchased jumped from 44 708 to 84 829. Generator spending climbed from R211.5-million to R426.8-million, up by roughly R215-million, with the number of generators bought more than doubling from 855 in 2024 to 1 969 in 2025.
Spending redirected
In an interview with TechCentral on Tuesday, Nomvuyiso Batyi, CEO of telecoms lobby group the Association of Comms & Technology (ACT), said the combination of power outages and infrastructure theft was forcing mobile operators to redirect spending earmarked for network expansion into the repair of existing infrastructure.
Although Eskom has officially ended load shedding, power outages remain widespread across municipalities, Batyi said. Areas subject to load reduction – typically high-density, lower-income communities – are pegged to endure outages until at least 2027, according to Eskom. But power cuts persist outside those areas, too.
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“Telecommunications networks require constant power to operate and our members report burning more diesel now due to power outages and vandalism, because wherever there are power outages vandalism also increases,” Batyi said.
She said consumers expect uninterrupted mobile service despite power supply disruptions. Icasa also imposes quality-of-service obligations on its licensees, including minimum 90% uptime on voice call services. ACT has been lobbying Icasa to relax those obligations in specific scenarios, such as when power is unavailable or where infrastructure has been vandalised. “In reality, no one is going to meet those obligations because of the situation on the ground,” she said.
Ahead of the 2024 state of the nation address, mobile operators, through ACT, lobbied national treasury for diesel rebates to be extended to the telecoms sector. The request was ignored, but Batyi said telecoms infrastructure remains critical to the functioning of society and that operators ought to be supported in efforts to keep connectivity available.
TechCentral on Sunday reported that South Africa’s 5G boom is bypassing rural areas – another finding from Icasa’s report. Batyi said one reason was that “5G upgrades follow devices”. Most users in rural areas still rely on 2G and 3G connectivity, so the business case for 5G does not yet exist there. The second blocker, she said, is that power outages, theft and vandalism are forcing operators to redirect funds earmarked for network expansion towards network resilience.
“Operators are spending money on repairs and they are still expected to build infrastructure in urban areas. Those areas are affected by the same issues of power outages, vandalism and theft. Now that Icasa has this information, what is it going to do about it? Will it go to other government agencies such as the communications department or the South African Police Service?” she said.
A multidisciplinary task team set up in 2022 to coordinate efforts to fight vandalism and theft across various sectors – with members including national treasury, the department of justice and the SAPS – has not met for at least six months, according to Batyi.
Economic threat
She warned that threats to telecoms infrastructure were threats to the broader economy and to public safety, citing the example of a dropped call to an ambulance or the police.
“Our members have made efforts to work closely with law enforcement and community policing forums, but stronger coordination between industry, government and law enforcement is needed. We also need greater recognition of infrastructure crime as an economic threat with the economic crimes court,” Batyi said. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
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