Telkom Group has surpassed 25 million mobile subscribers, achieving this milestone in the third quarter of its 2026 financial year (period ending 31 December 2025).
The company’s Q3 trading update, released on 16 February 2026, highlights the success of its data-led strategy in transforming Telkom from a legacy fixed-line operator into a competitive, mobile-centric business with improving profitability and market positioning.
Mobile data subscribers grew 29.3% year-on-year to 19.3 million, representing 76.5% of the total mobile base (up from 62.3% a year earlier).
Total mobile subscribers increased 5.3% to 25.3 million, with prepaid subscribers rising 5.8% to 22.2 million and post-paid edging up 1.2% to 3.1 million. Mobile data traffic rose 20.4% to 544 petabytes, underscoring strong demand for data services.
Data-Led Revenue and Margin Expansion
Telkom’s deliberate focus on data as the primary growth driver has produced tangible financial results. Mobile service revenue increased 7.2% for the quarter and 7.6% year-to-date, with prepaid service revenue up 11.6%.
Mobile data revenue grew 12.9% in the quarter, contributing to group data revenue rising 9.6% to R6.9 billion (61.6% of total group revenue, up from 57.0% a year earlier).
The mobile EBITDA margin expanded by 2.1 percentage points to 29.7%, driven by higher-margin data sales, improved cost discipline, and a reduction in impairment of receivables.
Group EBITDA increased 8.4% to R3.237 billion, with the margin reaching 29.1% for the quarter (27.9% year-to-date excluding property sales), exceeding medium-term guidance.
This margin improvement reflects efficient scaling of data volumes relative to network costs, alongside targeted pricing and customer value management that prioritise profitable growth over volume alone.
Personalised Offers Driving Prepaid Performance
A key enabler of the data-led strategy has been the deployment of advanced Customer Value Management platforms, Mo’Nice and Mo’Town. These tools deliver personalised, hyper-local offers based on customer behaviour, location, and usage patterns.
The platforms now contribute more than 53% of prepaid service revenue through tailored bundles, social media offers, time-based data, and regional promotions.
This has supported higher recharge frequency, increased spend per user, and stronger retention in competitive segments.
Prepaid ARPU remained stable at R61, while targeted expansion into non-metropolitan areas lifted acquisition share by 5.6% in those regions.
Network Investment and Infrastructure Support
Telkom invested R1.3 billion in the quarter, adding 150 new mobile high sites and expanding fibre to nearly 48,000 additional homes.
Openserve maintained strong momentum, with homes passed reaching 1.5 million and connectivity at 52.4%.
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Fibre revenue grew 8.7% for the third consecutive quarter, reinforcing the fixed-mobile convergence strategy.
These investments ensure network quality supports growing data consumption while enabling cost-efficient scaling.
Diversification and Resilience
Beyond connectivity, Telkom continues to diversify through “Beyond Connectivity” initiatives:
- Financial services, including airtime lending, grew 15.9% and now account for a quarter of prepaid recharges.
- Openserve’s fibre monetisation provides stable, high-margin revenue.
- Enterprise IT arm BCX faced a 9.3% revenue decline due to cautious corporate spending, though leadership continuity is assured with Hasnain Motlekar appointed acting CEO effective 1 March 2026 following Jonas Bogoshi’s retirement.
The disciplined execution of our data-led strategy delivered quality data revenue growth. The OneTelkom approach is successfully integrating diverse business units into a competitive whole
Serame Taukobong, Group CEO, commented
Looking Ahead
Telkom’s data-led strategy has driven subscriber growth to over 25 million, significantly increased the proportion of data users to 76.5%, and delivered robust revenue growth in mobile data (12.9%) and group data (9.6%).
This has translated into margin expansion (mobile EBITDA to 29.7%) and group EBITDA growth of 8.4%, supported by personalised offers, targeted regional expansion, and disciplined network investment.
These results confirm Telkom’s effective transition to a mobile- and data-driven business model with improving profitability and market share gains.
For the most current financial details and updates, refer to Telkom Group’s official investor relations publications or the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Telkom Overview
Telkom Kenya is a major telecommunications operator in Kenya offering mobile, data and fixed-line services.
Customers can access and manage their services through the Telkom Kenya app or Telkom Kenya login via the My Account Telkom portal using their registered number and password. POS Telkom refers to point-of-sale and merchant payment services supported by the network.
Telkom South Africa is a separate entity operating under the same corporate brand but as a distinct company from Telkom Kenya.
For support, Telkom Kenya customer care can be reached through official contact channels such as the call centre (*100 from a Telkom line) and social media or email support listed on the Telkom Kenya website.
Ronnie Paul is a seasoned writer and analyst with a prolific portfolio of over 1,000 published articles, specialising in fintech, cryptocurrency, climate change, and digital finance at Africa Digest News.
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