Telkom Consumer has reported robust financial performance for the six months to end September 2025, revealing a clear winning formula: its prepaid segment and data-led strategy are the twin engines driving substantial growth.
For the 11th consecutive quarter, the mobile business has achieved market-leading service revenue growth, with operating revenue climbing 6.4% to R14.25 billion.
The numbers emphasises a successful penetration of the mass market.
Total mobile subscribers grew by 7.7% to 24.5 million, fuelled by a 9% jump in prepaid subscribers to 21.6 million.
More critically, the mobile data subscriber base exploded by 26.7% to 18.5 million, now representing 75.3% of all subscribers and driving a 10.3% increase in mobile data revenue to R8.6 billion.
Strategic Investments and Network Expansion
This growth was strategically supported by significant capital investment.
“In line with our strategic imperative to lead in data services, we committed R1.3 billion in capital expenditure towards our mobile programme, primarily for network expansion and upgrading of base stations,” said Telkom Consumer, led by Lunga Siyo.
This investment expanded integrated sites to 8,115 and increased population coverage to 85%, simultaneously improving service and reducing roaming costs.
The company’s statement linked the growth directly to customer demand: “This growth was driven by strong demand for seamless connectivity and value-focused plans tailored to our customers’ needs.”
Innovation in Prepaid and Fibre
The company highlighted specific tactics that unlocked growth, particularly in the prepaid and fibre segments. “Activities such as LTE coverage expansion, prepaid bundle innovation, device financing initiatives, and hyper-localised campaigns enabled us to unlock growth in underserved areas,” the company stated.
On the fixed-line side, fibre-related data revenue increased by 10.8%, aided by an 8.5% growth in subscribers.
“Our fibre portfolio continues to scale… We have broadened accessibility through pre-paid fibre offers, simplified the installation process, and enabled our customers better control of their household connectivity.”
Beyond Connectivity
Telkom Consumer is also successfully building revenue streams beyond traditional connectivity. Its “Beyond Connectivity” strategy – including airtime advance lending, insurance, and digital content -contributed R801 million to revenue.
The airtime advance lending service alone is used by approximately 6.1 million unique customers.
The company is also future-proofing its network, noting that 5G device penetration surged to 1.7 million and VoLTE traffic now accounts for 69% of calls.
“The number of devices that support 4G is now at 94%, which puts Telkom in a good position to sunset 3G and make way for an all-data network,” the company added, signalling a continued commitment to a data-dominated future.
