Hang up on high voice costs in South Africa

Talk is about to get cheaper.

A quiet revolution is happening in telecommunications in South Africa, and it will speak volumes for your bottom line.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has just redrawn the roadmap for voice communication costs. In a move that’s been years in the making, the regulator is slashing wholesale voice-call termination rates over a three-year glide path from July 2025. And it’s more than policy — it's a power shift.

For the average organization, it’s an opportunity hiding in plain sight. If you’re ready to break up with legacy voice, read on.

Understanding termination rates

Every time you make a call across networks in South Africa (say, from Vodacom to MTN), your operator pays a small fee to the other operator for “terminating” the call on their network. These are known as termination rates, and while they may seem tiny, they’ve historically made up a chunky part of your voice bill — especially if you’re still on traditional voice infrastructure.

Now, ICASA is dialing those fees down. Why? To level the playing field. The authority wants to give smaller, newer providers a fighting chance with slightly higher allowed rates, just long enough to establish themselves before full competition kicks in.

What does this mean for me?

You don’t need to understand telco policy to benefit from it, but you do need to know what’s at stake if you remain stuck in old contracts or ignore the market shift.

1. If you’re still on legacy voice contracts, you're probably overpaying

Traditional voice services, like those tied to time-division multiplexing (TDM) or public switched telephone network (PSTN) infrastructure, typically lock you into rigid pricing structures. These contracts often don’t adjust automatically with changes in regulation. That means even if your provider pays less to terminate your calls, they might not be passing those savings on to you.

Simply put: Your business could be paying 2022 prices in 2025.

• ALSO READ → Growing your business? Managed cloud voice saves you money and headaches

2. Cloud voice is here

The new ICASA regulations don’t only trim costs; they also turbocharge the case for cloud voice. Cloud voice services, like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking, are built for agility. They can reflect real-time cost changes, scale with your team, simplify your billing and eliminate the hardware burden of traditional private branch exchanges.

If you have cloud voice, you benefit from:

• Flat-rate bundles
• Transparent billing
• Lower call costs (especially outbound)
• Easy remote-work integration
• Built-in disaster recovery

3. Legacy telcos are facing a margin squeeze

Here’s where it gets interesting. The bigger telcos have bulky infrastructure and high fixed costs. When termination rates fall, their revenue per minute drops, but their costs don’t. They’re stuck in a margin trap, forced to choose between slashing prices (and profits) and losing customers to leaner, cloud-based providers.

This opens a strategic window for your business: Make the move while others are still deciding how to respond.

The savings are real: A quick example

Let’s say your company makes 100,000 minutes of outbound calls per month. If you’re paying R0.13 per minute today, that’s R13,000 per month.

With a cloud voice provider aligning with the new ICASA rates, your effective rate could drop to R0.05, or even lower in some bundled offerings. That means you’d now be paying R5,000 per month — a saving of more than 60% — and putting R96,000 back into your budget each year.

And that’s before factoring in all the other benefits of switching to cloud voice, such as reduced maintenance, improved reporting and modern call features.

3 steps to getting ahead

The market is shifting. Smart organizations are already moving. Here’s your three-step plan to stay ahead:

1. Audit your voice setup

Check your current contract. Are your rates adjusting to ICASA’s glide path? If not, get your provider to explain why. (Spoiler: If they can’t, it’s time to look elsewhere.)

2. Explore cloud voice providers

Look for a provider that offers:

• Flat, transparent pricing
• Local support
• SLA-backed reliability
• Seamless porting from legacy systems

The best ones will even help you with the migration process — no downtime, no stress.

3. Act before everyone else does

The early adopters of cloud voice won’t just save money; they’ll also gain flexibility, resilience and a strategic advantage.

Talk cheaper, move smarter

ICASA’s new voice termination rules are more than just regulatory housekeeping. They signal the end of overpriced, underperforming voice services and the rise of smarter, leaner and more flexible communication.

If you’re still clinging to copper wires and outdated contracts, you’re missing the point and the savings. The organizations that thrive over the next three years will be the ones that adapt now. So, ask yourself: Is your voice strategy stuck in the past, or are you ready for what’s next?