ICASA's proposed numbering rules would cap individuals at five mobile numbers per network, with companies exempt. The same draft calls for biometric identity checks against Home Affairs records when numbers are activated or reactivated, and real-time identity verification for SIM swaps. These are consultation proposals, not rules already in force. Fraud prevention deserves attention (not that it gets any at all), but so do families sharing one account holder's ID and the security of the biometric information.
South Africa could be ready to retire 3G in 12 to 24 months, Vodacom group technology chief Dejan Kastelic told TechCentral. He wants operators to coordinate a date, give a year's notice and help customers replace old handsets. Fewer than 10% of devices on Vodacom's local network are now 3G handsets, he says; 2G would remain longer. This is an executive's proposed timetable, not an announced shutdown. Freeing spectrum for 4G makes sense, provided customers aren't expected to upgrade their wallets first (as is usually the case...).
Vodacom topped MyBroadband Insights' Centurion voice tests with a 97.77 score, no dropped calls and 100% call-setup success in the sample. MTN placed second overall but recorded slightly better average speech quality. Telkom and Cell C met the cited regulatory thresholds, while Rain's 87.3% setup success hurt its result. These are controlled one-minute test calls, not a promise about every conversation or suburb. Still, successfully connecting a call remains a refreshingly practical network feature to measure.
Small ISPs face a difficult choice when licences begin expiring in 2028. ICASA chair Mothibi Ramusi told MyBroadband that active operators without 30% ownership by historically disadvantaged groups would need qualifying partners or would have to stop operating. He also acknowledged that how ownership should be calculated remains disputed. This is a warning about compliance at renewal, and keeping smaller competitors alive in a market that could use more of them will now become far more onerous. Compliments of the absolute clown show.
ICASA officials told MyBroadband they expect to publish a discussion document on new national network and service licences before October ends. That would open a 45-day consultation, rather than immediately let new operators in. ISPA says buying an existing licence generally costs more than R1 million, followed by months of transfer paperwork. Lowering that barrier could help smaller networks compete. For now, would-be rivals remain in the distinctly South African business of waiting for permission to compete.
SpaceX is reportedly discussing access to as many as 80,000 US mobile towers, with Crown Castle among the companies named in Bloomberg reporting covered by Fierce Network. That could give Starlink Mobile a substantial ground network alongside its satellites. Analysts caution that the talks might also help SpaceX negotiate wholesale access from an existing operator. No completed tower deal is established by these reports. Apparently, even a business famous for escaping Earth's gravity may find the mobile industry's most useful assets firmly bolted to it.
Portsmouth Water plans to use Openreach fibre and Lightsonic sensing technology to locate underground water leaks, with deployment due in December. The system measures vibrations along existing cables and identifies patterns associated with escaping water, potentially narrowing the search to around 10 metres. Lightsonic says the approach can improve leak-finding productivity, although Portsmouth's results still lie ahead. It's an appealing extra job for infrastructure already in the ground: helping fix the pipes instead of merely carrying complaints about them.
Herotel says it will deliver connections of up to 500Mbps at four remote camps for the seven-day Nedbank Gravel Burn, which starts on 25 October. The Karoo race needs dependable links for medical coordination, timing and officials as well as riders. This year the provider is taking a bigger role in building and running the event network. Some infrastructure may remain for nearby farms and businesses afterwards, although that isn't a firm rollout commitment. Getting race results online is useful; leaving rural communities connected would be the better souvenir.
Vodacom's 30-day summer bundles offer a welcome discount, but half the headline data allowance works only between midnight and 5am. The R529 package contains 150GB of anytime data plus 150GB of Night Owl data, putting the usable daytime portion at about R3.53/GB. At the other end, R129 buys 7.5GB anytime and another 7.5GB overnight. Better value deserves credit. Just compare the data you'll actually use, rather than letting the marketing department count your sleeping hours as a consumer benefit.
MyBroadband's third-quarter testing puts Vodacom ahead on Gauteng 5G download speeds, averaging 223.36Mbps against Telkom's 179.31Mbps and MTN's 166.94Mbps. Telkom took the latency honours at 18ms, compared with Vodacom's 25ms and MTN's 27ms. The measurements cover July to September and describe participating users' tests, rather than a guarantee at your address. Still, the split is useful: the fastest download badge doesn't automatically make an operator the best choice for every gamer, household or inconveniently positioned lounge.
T-Mobile's US T-Mix plans arrive in November with one, two or three 'Picks' that customers can allocate to streaming, gaming, satellite connectivity or device promotions. Partner benefits can generally be remixed during quarterly windows, while some wireless benefits can change anytime. Device deals hold Picks for the promotion period, so flexibility has limits. Choosing benefits you actually use is a sensible improvement over bundled clutter. Comparing a phone contract now apparently requires both a coverage map and a subscription spreadsheet.
