In brief: ICASA’s revised mobile and fixed-line call termination rates have a direct impact on the cost of SIP trunking and VoIP calls in South Africa. Understanding how termination rates work — and how they flow through to reseller pricing — helps you have smarter conversations with clients about call costs.
What Call Termination Rates Are and Why They Matter
Call termination rates (also called interconnect rates or MTRs — Mobile Termination Rates) are the wholesale prices that one network operator charges another to “terminate” (complete) a call onto its network. When a Vodacom subscriber calls an MTN number, Vodacom pays MTN a termination rate for completing that call. When a VoIP user calls a mobile number, the VoIP provider pays the mobile network a termination rate.
These rates are regulated by ICASA (the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) to prevent dominant networks from using high termination rates as a competitive barrier. Lower termination rates generally mean lower retail call costs for end users and more competitive pricing from VoIP and SIP trunk providers.
For telecoms resellers, termination rates matter because they form part of the cost base for SIP trunking and hosted PBX services. When ICASA reduces termination rates, providers can (and often do) reduce retail call rates, which benefits the clients you’ve signed up on per-minute billing plans.
ICASA’s 2024–2027 Termination Rate Schedule
ICASA published a revised call termination rate schedule in late 2024, establishing new rate tiers for 2025 through 2027. The rate structure distinguishes between large operators, small operators, and new entrants to encourage competition:
| Year | Large Operators (MTR) | Small Operators (MTR) | New Entrants (MTR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12c/min | 16c/min | 20c/min |
| 2026 | 11c/min | 14c/min | 18c/min |
| 2027 | 10c/min | 13c/min | 16c/min |
Large operators are defined as those with more than a specified subscriber threshold — currently Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C. Telkom Mobile and smaller MVNOs typically fall into the small operator or new entrant categories, which is why calls to Telkom Mobile numbers have historically been priced differently from calls to Vodacom and MTN.
Fixed-line termination rates (for calls terminating on Telkom landlines or VoIP numbers) are set separately and are generally lower than mobile rates, reflecting the lower infrastructure cost of fixed-line termination.
How Termination Rates Flow Through to VoIP Pricing
For resellers selling hosted PBX with per-minute SIP trunking, understanding how termination rates are embedded in call pricing helps you interpret price changes from your upstream providers and explain billing to clients.
A typical retail VoIP call to a SA mobile number is priced at 35–55c/minute in 2025. This retail price covers:
- The termination rate paid to the mobile network (~12c for large operators)
- Origination costs (the cost of carrying the call from the VoIP provider to the mobile network)
- Margin for the SIP trunk provider
- Margin for the reseller (if you’re marking up)
When ICASA reduces termination rates, it reduces one component of this stack. Competitive SIP trunk providers typically pass some of this saving on to resellers, but not always immediately or proportionally. Monitoring your SIP trunk provider’s rate schedules after ICASA rate changes is worthwhile.
Practical Implications for Reseller Pricing Strategies
Most SA businesses are now on one of three call billing models:
Per-minute billing: Clients pay for what they use. Best for businesses with variable call volumes. Termination rate changes directly affect the cost of mobile calls.
Bundled minutes: A fixed allocation of minutes included in a monthly package (e.g., 1,000 landline minutes + 500 mobile minutes). Clients on bundles are insulated from per-minute rate changes within the bundle, but the bundle itself may be repriced at contract renewal to reflect changed costs.
Unlimited calling: Some providers offer unlimited calls to SA landlines and mobile networks for a fixed monthly fee. These products are only sustainable at competitive termination rates — and become more viable as ICASA drives rates down. The expansion of “unlimited” VoIP offerings in SA is in part a consequence of declining termination rates.
For resellers advising clients on call plans, the long-term direction of SA termination rates is downward. ICASA has consistently reduced rates over successive regulatory cycles, following the global trend established by Ofcom (UK) and ComReg (Ireland) among others. Clients locked into per-minute contracts should understand this context — long-term unlimited-call contracts at today’s pricing may become better value as mobile termination rates decline.
Number Portability and Termination Rate Interaction
One complexity that trips up even experienced VoIP providers: when a number has been ported, the termination rate for that number is determined by the current network, not the original network. A number that was originally a Vodacom mobile number but has been ported to a VoIP carrier is no longer subject to Vodacom’s mobile termination rate — it’s subject to the VoIP carrier’s (typically lower) fixed-line rate.
This means that as number portability becomes more common and more businesses port to VoIP-native numbers, the average effective termination cost for SA calling decreases. More calls terminate on fixed/VoIP networks (lower rates) and fewer on mobile networks (higher rates) even when dialling what appear to be mobile numbers.
Impact on Wholesale VoIP Resellers
Resellers who buy SIP trunking wholesale from providers like Euphoria Telecom, Voxtelecom, or Neotel and resell it to end clients need to manage the spread between their wholesale cost and retail price. As ICASA drives termination rates down:
- Wholesale per-minute costs from your upstream provider should decrease over time
- Retail pricing pressure from competitors will increase as everyone’s costs fall
- The sustainable strategy is to shift clients from per-minute billing to bundled or unlimited plans, which commoditise call cost and make the relationship stickier
- Value-added services (call recording, analytics, CRM integration, call queues) become more important differentiators than raw call pricing
What This Means for SA Telecoms Resellers
ICASA’s call termination regulation is one of the most important structural factors shaping VoIP pricing in South Africa. Staying informed about rate changes — and understanding how they flow through from wholesale to retail — helps you make smarter commercial decisions about your SIP trunking margins, client contract structures, and competitive positioning.
The long-term trend toward lower termination rates and unlimited-calling packages benefits SA businesses by reducing communication costs. For resellers, the strategic response is to build recurring revenue on managed service, configuration, and support rather than relying on per-minute call margin as a primary income stream.
About the Author
Mechelle Gindra
Mechelle Gindra is the managing editor and lead content strategist at Telecoms-Channel, South Africa's dedicated intelligence platform for telecoms resellers, ICT distributors, and channel partners. She oversees the editorial team's AI-assisted content production pipeline, ensuring vendor news, market analysis, and regulatory updates are accurate, timely, and actionable for the SA telecoms channel community. With deep expertise in the South African telecoms reseller ecosystem, Mechelle directs coverage of vendor partner programmes, ICASA regulatory developments, wholesale market dynamics, and channel business strategy. She is responsible for maintaining Telecoms-Channel's editorial standards, fact-checking processes, and corrections policy.
