How porting works in South Africa
Number portability in SA is regulated by ICASA under the Numbering Plan Regulations. Every licensed operator is legally required to accept port-out requests. The regulated port window is 5 working days from the moment the losing operator validates the request — but real-world timelines run 2–4 weeks including documentation and provider queues.
What is portable:
- Geographic fixed-line numbers (011, 012, 013, 014, 015, 016, 017, 018, 021, 022, 023, 027, 028, 031, 032, 033, 034, 035, 036, 039, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, 046, 047, 048, 049, 051, 053, 054, 056, 057, 058).
- Mobile numbers (072, 073, 074, 076, 078, 079, 081, 082, 083, 084).
- Non-geographic and 087 numbers.
What is not portable: 080/0800 toll-free (portable between some operators but not all), premium-rate numbers, some legacy short codes.
Documents you need before you start
- Company registration document (CIPC). Must match the account name on the losing operator's records exactly.
- Directors' ID copies (usually one authorised director is enough).
- Most recent bill from the losing operator (within the last 60 days). This is the single most-rejected document — expired or wrong account number kills the port.
- Signed Letter of Authority from the gaining operator, on the client company letterhead, signed by the same authorised person.
- Completed porting request form from the gaining operator listing every number to port.
- PIN or account password if the losing operator requires it (Telkom sometimes does).
The step-by-step process
- Day 0 — gather documents. Complete accuracy matters more than speed.
- Day 1 — submit to gaining operator. They validate documents internally (24–72 hours).
- Day 3 — submitted to losing operator. Losing operator has up to 5 working days to accept or reject.
- Day 8–10 — port date confirmed. You get a specific date and time (usually 08:00 on a weekday).
- Days 8–14 — pre-cutover build. Numbers provisioned on the new platform; test calls confirmed working via temporary DIDs; handsets and softphones configured.
- Port date — cutover. Number goes live on new platform at scheduled time; test call within 5 minutes; monitor for 24 hours.
- Day +30 — losing operator invoice ceases. Confirm the old service is properly cancelled to avoid double-billing.
What happens on cutover day
- The number's routing changes in the SA national portability database at the agreed time (typically 08:00).
- For 5–15 minutes there can be brief inconsistency as SA telcos update their internal routing tables.
- Make a test call from three external networks (Vodacom, MTN, Telkom mobile) within 30 minutes.
- Send a test SMS if SMS is enabled on the new platform.
- Leave the old handsets/analog terminal adaptor powered on for 48 hours as a safety net — some retry logic still hits the old destination briefly.
The 3 most common failure modes — and how to avoid them
- Name mismatch. The account is registered to "ABC Trading" but the CIPC document says "ABC Trading (Pty) Ltd". Losing operator rejects. Fix: obtain a name-correction letter from the losing operator BEFORE submitting the port.
- Outstanding balance. Losing operator will reject if there is any arrears. Fix: settle in full and get written confirmation before submitting.
- Number not actually on the losing operator. The number was wholesaled to a reseller; the port request goes to the wrong operator. Fix: check the number's current host using an ICASA lookup before submitting.
All three are avoided by 20 minutes of pre-flight checking. 1ICT does this checking as standard for every port we run.
Frequently asked questions
How long does number porting take in South Africa?
ICASA's regulated port window is 5 working days once the losing operator confirms the request. In practice, allow 2–4 weeks end-to-end including documentation, provider queues and cutover scheduling.
Will we lose incoming calls during the port?
Not if the cutover is scheduled correctly. The number goes 'live' on the new network at a set time (usually 08:00 SAST) — before that, calls route to the losing operator; after that, to the new one. Downtime should be minutes, not hours.
What documents do we need to port a number?
Company registration document (CIPC), directors' IDs, a copy of the most recent bill from the losing operator, a signed Letter of Authority, and a completed porting request form from the gaining operator. Missing or mismatched details are the #1 cause of port rejection.
Can we port a Telkom fixed-line number to VoIP?
Yes. Geographic Telkom numbers (011, 012, 021, 031, 041, 051 etc.) are portable to any licensed SA VoIP operator. The line itself is cancelled; the number continues on the new platform.
What about mobile numbers?
Yes — mobile-to-VoIP porting is legal and standard. Common for professional services who want their 082/083/084 mobile as their primary business number ringing on a softphone.
What happens if the port fails?
The number stays on the losing operator with zero disruption to your service — porting failure is not a service outage. The gaining operator will tell you what went wrong (usually documentation) and re-submit.