Messaging apps like WhatsApp dominate in South Africa — but SMS refuses to quit

Short message service (SMS) use is declining in South Africa, but mobile operators say the technology is still popular among a large number of customers.

This is according to MTN SA and Telkom, who told MyBroadband that despite the increased popularity of data-based messaging services like WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage, and Rich Communication Services (RCS).

“MTN has seen a reduction in the use of SMS messaging by its customers, which is in line with the trend seen throughout the industry,” MTN SA told MyBroadband.

“This can be attributed to the introduction of data-based messaging applications. Despite the growth in these data-based messaging applications, SMS is still used by a large number of customer segments.”

Telkom said many of its customers use SMS frequently as it doesn’t require any additional app to be installed and is compatible with both smartphones and feature phones.

“SMS doesn’t require data to work whereas other messaging services require data in order to send or receive messages,” it said.

However, it said it has seen an increase in the use of data-based messaging apps and services.

“We may see a decline in SMS as more and more devices and networks support RCS, which does not require an app to be installed on the device,” said Telkom

“We do see more usage of messaging apps by consumers compared to traditional SMS especially on WhatsApp since it is popular with the youth and it works on almost all devices.”

Telkom added that SMS is still of significant value to South African businesses as it ensures they can reach customers who don’t have data.

“Businesses prefer SMS as they want to ensure that the messages reach the customer and the user is not relying on data to receive communication,” it said.

“Once consumers adopt RCS at scale as a preferred messaging service, businesses will also start using it to communicate with their customers.”

It added that South African businesses have already started engaging with their customers via messaging apps, but said cost remains a deterrent for many of these businesses.

MyBroadband also asked Vodacom for feedback, but it did not answer our questions by the time of publication.

New SMS bundle rules for South Africa

In early March 2024, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) published revised draft amendments to its End-user and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment (EUSSC) Regulations.

This included new rules for the data, voice, and SMS bundles sold by South Africa’s mobile network operators.

Firstly, Icasa proposed that mobile networks must deplete bundles in order of earliest expiry.

For example, mobile network operators will have to stop consumption of the monthly bundle for cellular users who purchased a weekly SMS bundle after receiving their monthly allocation until the weekly allocation is depleted.

Icasa also proposed bundle rollovers for medium- and long-term bundles. Medium-term bundles comprise those lasting between seven and 30 days, while long-term bundles are those valid for more than 30 days.

It made no proposals for short-term — daily to seven-day — bundles. However, it proposed that 50% of unused medium-term bundles should be rolled over if not depleted by the end of the period.

For long-term bundles, only 25% of unused data must be rolled over to the equivalent validity period at least twice.

Icasa added that the rollover of bundles must occur without requiring any action and without incurring any cost to the end-user.

The regulator also proposed that mobile networks must allow customers to transfer bundles or portions thereof to any other customer on the same network while retaining the same conditions as the original bundle.

Lastly, Icasa proposed that bundle validity periods must be extended when a customer is unable to use it as a result of a network fault.