{"id":875010,"date":"2026-09-11T13:23:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=875010"},"modified":"2026-09-11T13:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:23:52","slug":"big-changes-on-the-cards-for-whatsapp-netflix-youtube-and-other-services-in-south-africa-now-under-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/media\/875010\/big-changes-on-the-cards-for-whatsapp-netflix-youtube-and-other-services-in-south-africa-now-under-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Big changes on the cards for WhatsApp, Netflix, YouTube and other services in South Africa – now under investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has launched a market inquiry to investigate over-the-top services (OTTs) in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inquiry is specifically investigating the impact of these services on licensees in the telecommunications, broadcasting and postal sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OTT services are media services that stream content to digital, internet-connected devices and platforms. This includes the likes of Netflix, Disney+, WhatsApp, Amazon Prime, and YouTube, among many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICASA first revealed its plan to conduct a market inquiry on OTT services in South Africa in its Annual Performance Plan (APP) for the 2026\/27 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that it would produce a discussion paper on the findings of this market inquiry, which could include a response to the Fair Share debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fair Share is a proposal that requires high-traffic OTT platforms to pay traditional telecommunications network operators for the construction and maintenance of broadband infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of its APP, ICASA specifically noted that OTT services, such as Netflix and WhatsApp, had disrupted traditional broadcasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It explained that unregulated OTT services from foreign providers were competing in the same market with regulated traditional linear broadcasters for audiences and revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOTTs disrupt the broadcasting environment and affect the use of conventional infrastructure and networks, threatening to render them useless,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to legal experts at Webber Wentzel, the scope of the new inquiry is broad and could have significant implications for a slew of service providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For OTT service providers, the inquiry raises the possibility of being brought within South Africa\u2019s communications licensing framework, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Platforms offering voice, messaging, video streaming or other services or functionality over the internet often operate without local licences,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Depending on the outcome of the Inquiry, [these] may face new compliance requirements.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International companies in the crosshairs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Given that several prominent OTT players are foreign-based with no or limited corporate presence in South Africa, there are questions about how any new obligations could be enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inquiry could shape licensing requirements, content obligations, spectrum and numbering allocation, and regulatory contributions, the legal experts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More broadly, however, the inquiry could also give OTT services the opportunity to engage in the regulatory environment relative to licensed services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The findings could inform spectrum policy, interconnection terms and universal service obligations,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For broadcasting licensees, the potential implications are equally significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Webber Wentzel noted that the aforementioned Fair Share debate is also likely to feature prominently in submissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because streaming platforms compete for audiences and advertising revenue, the inquiry may consider ways to even the playing field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could see considerations on how to apply regulatory requirements on OTT services comparable to those applicable to licensed broadcasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could result in things such as local content quotas or must-carry obligations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Any move towards greater regulatory parity could materially affect the competitive landscape,” the experts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Inquiry will proceed in four phases, outlined in the table below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase<\/th>Theme<\/th>Content<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Phase 1<\/strong><\/td>Commencement<\/td>Stakeholders have 10 working days from publication of the notice (4 September 2026) to ask any clarification questions following which ICASA will publish responses to these questions if ICASA considers this to be necessary.<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 2<\/strong><\/td>Discussion Document<\/td>ICASA will publish a Discussion Document for written comment over a period of 45 working days. Submissions will be made public on ICASA’s website. Stakeholders must indicate if they wish to make oral representations.<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 3<\/strong><\/td>Public Hearings <\/td>ICASA may, at its discretion, hold public hearings and request further information from stakeholders within seven working days.<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 4<\/strong><\/td>Findings<\/td>Within 90 days of the Inquiry\u2019s conclusion, ICASA will publish a summary of its findings in the Government Gazette and on its website.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legal experts say ICASA’s market inquiry into OTT services could result in significant changes for digital services in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":797589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2098371990990016868","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2202329397254126","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18095707397093318","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5554],"tags":[36,9455],"class_list":["post-875010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media","tag-icasa","tag-webber-wentzel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875010"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":875017,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875010\/revisions\/875017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}