Telkom has entered the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) market through its partnership with a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) platform provider with a proven track record in the South African market. Signing the MVNE platform agreement will enable Telkom to meet ICASA’s requirements while identifying and onboarding multiple MVNOs to strengthen its competitive position in the MVNO market. ICASA requires mobile network operators like Telkom to support at least three black-owned MVNOs as part of their spectrum licence conditions.

South Africa’s MVNO market is expanding rapidly, with banks, insurance firms, and major retailers driving competition in the sector. The Africa Analysis MVNO Report (February 2024) estimates the market’s potential revenue at R83,6b million, highlighting strong growth prospects.

“Since the sector’s inception in 2006, it has experienced steady growth, with subscriber numbers increasing by 51% year-on-year by the end of 2023, reaching 4.3 million users. This growth is driven by consumer affinity, particularly to financial services providers, retailers, and niche brands. These businesses seek to create unique branded mobile products and services, develop new value propositions and value-added services to enhance customer engagement for their own customers.”

“The MVNO market is an exciting space, and we are eager to bring our network capabilities and infrastructure to enable and support new entrants,” said Lunga Siyo, Telkom CEO, Consumer and Small Business. “We are streamlining MVNO entry with a structured, scalable single-platform model. This simplifies integration, reduces operational complexity, and ensures reliable network access.”

Telkom, together with our experienced and trusted platform provider, intends to enhance its business, provide relevant solutions to enable and support MVNOs to establish and build sustainable businesses and presence in the market. The company remains open to discussions with potential partners and is dedicated to providing the best support and technological capabilities to ensure the success of MVNOs in the market.

“Our expansion into the MVNO market aligns with our anchor brand purpose to seamlessly connect every South African and to enable and assist brands to create value for their existing and new customers irrespective of the industry in which they operate,” says Siyo.

Call for potential MVNO partners

Telkom invites brands interested in launching MVNOs to explore partnership opportunities. They will have access to a reliable platform that supports end-to-end customer engagement and management, unique product design and development, and seamless network integration and technology enablement.

Potential partners can expect:

• Flexible onboarding: Enablement and support tailored based on customer technology integration preferences and requirements, unique product design and development, enhanced customer experience and support based on their unique customer journeys.
• Strong network capabilities: Access to Telkom’s high-quality network and roaming partners. 

“”We see this as a long-term strategy to establish Telkom as a strong player in the MVNO space,” said Siyo. “We are excited to finally enter the market and collaborate with brands across industries to develop and enable MVNO solutions that benefit all parties, with the customer as the top priority.” Keen to explore partnership opportunities? Please contact Telkom: mvno@telkom.co.za