Kenya’s new phone number rules will make recycling costlier for telcos
Kenya’s telecom operators will have to change how they deactivate and recycle inactive phone numbers from September 19, when new rules from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) take effect.
Beginning September 19, Kenyan telecommunications companies will need to overhaul how they deactivate and recycle inactive phone numbers. These new rules from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) aim to protect users and mitigate the risks associated with mobile numbers being used for financial services, digital authentication, and identity management.
While operators used to treat unused numbers as a scarce resource, they must now remove data and services tied to previous owners before assigning numbers to new subscribers. This change comes in response to a High Court judgment in March 2026 that highlighted mobile numbers as digital identifiers linked to a subscriber's identity, potentially exposing sensitive information if not handled properly.
Kenya's recycling window of six months falls between South Africa's 90-day period and Nigeria's one-year timeframe. However, Kenya goes a step further by allowing formal whitelisting for inmates and caregivers of medically indisposed individuals for a renewable one-year exemption. Unlike South Africa and Nigeria, Kenya requires consumers to actively opt-in to business-to-consumer messages on both new and recycled numbers.
Operators must maintain records of their notification efforts and subscriber consent for the duration the number remains active, adhering to Kenya's Data Protection Act, 2019. The new system involves a longer process before a dormant number can be reassigned, requiring operators to prove that the number has genuinely been abandoned.
Before recycling, operators must wait three consecutive months without revenue-generating activity, then spend another three months attempting to reach the subscriber through SMS and other contact details provided during KYC registration. They must also publish lists of at-risk numbers in national newspapers, broadcast media, and the operators' websites.
These additional steps could result in significant compliance costs for operators with millions of subscribers.
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