Telkom going after Vodacom and MTN’s low-end subscribers

Telkom CEO Serame Taukobong said they will be targeting Vodacom and MTN’s 2G and 3G subscribers with their data-centric mobile offering.

Telkom’s latest financial results revealed that it grew its mobile subscriber base by 7.8%, from 16.94 million in March 2022 to 18.26 million by 31 March 2023.

Telkom increased its mobile network investment by 35% over the last year, expanding its network footprint and launching 5G services.

There was a particular emphasis on the low-frequency band (800 MHz), to enhance coverage of its LTE services.

This benefited Telkom’s mobile broadband subscriber base, which grew 9.2% to 11.6 million, representing 63.7% of its total mobile base.

Speaking to Moneyweb, Taukobong said it is key to consider Telkom’s data revenue share when looking at its mobile business. “Data is 80% of our mobile revenue,” he said.

He said their 12 million data users are getting close to MTN, which reported around 14 million to 15 million data users.

“When you look at the 2G and 3G base, it represents around 20 million users in South Africa,” Taukobong said. “That is the biggest opportunity for Telkom Mobile to grow.”

The Telkom CEO said they will go after Vodacom and MTN’s 2G and 3G subscribers armed with its data-driven mobile proposition.

“If you take a 2G subscriber to 4G, your average revenue per user increases by 25% to 35%. That is what we built our mobile base on,” he said.