For years, South Africa’s mobile industry has debated the fairness of data expiry. Recent announcements requiring operators to roll over unused data bundles mark a meaningful shift, reflecting growing pressure to address long-standing consumer frustration.
For some players, however, non-expiry data is not a response to regulation but a starting point.
At Kastelo, the belief has always been simple: people should own what they pay for, including the data and airtime they do not immediately use. The idea that data should disappear after an arbitrary deadline feels increasingly out of step with a modern digital economy — particularly in a country where connectivity is essential to participation in work, education, and everyday life.
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This principle is reflected in Kastelo GIGS, which offers non-expiry data by default. Customers keep their unused data until it is used, without conditions or countdown clocks. It is not positioned as a promotion, but as a baseline expectation of fairness.
As regulators move to protect consumers from losing value unnecessarily, the direction of travel for the industry is becoming clear. Measures that prevent data from expiring are welcome and overdue, but regulation alone should not be the end goal.
The broader shift underway is about restoring trust and control to customers. Mobile services should work for people, not against them. In that sense, the question is no longer whether data expiry belongs in the future of mobile connectivity, but why it lasted as long as it did.