Telkom leaves Cell C in the dust
Telkom’s latest results showed that it is significantly outperforming Cell C in the South African mobile market.
On Tuesday, Telkom published its financial results for the six months ended 30 September 2025, which showed the company on the rise.
The Telkom Group’s revenue for the six months increased 3.4% to R22.1 billion, and data revenue was up 7.9% to R13.1 billion.
The strong top-line performance was reflected in the bottom line, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) increasing 7.4% to R6.0 billion.
EBITDA is a key indicator of core operational performance and structural cost improvements at the telecoms operator.
Telkom’s mobile services continued to perform well, with mobile service revenue increasing by 7.9%, outpacing market growth rates.
Mobile data subscribers increased by an exceptional 26.7% to 18.5 million, now accounting for 75.3% of the total mobile subscriber base of 24.5 million.
This growth was fuelled by prepaid subscribers, which rose by 9.0% to 21.6 million, with average revenue per user (ARPU) holding at R60.
Telkom Mobile’s post-paid base was stable, while the average revenue per user improved to R190.
“The competitiveness of the mobile business is demonstrated by market-leading service revenue growth,” Telkom said.
“Our mobile business delivered market-leading service revenue growth for the eleventh consecutive quarter to June 2025.”
Telkom CEO Serame Taukobong said in the second half, revenue will remain a key area of focus across the group.
“We will continue to leverage the unique advantage of our extensive fibre footprint to drive growth through our strong mobile offerings in service and data,” he said.
Taukobong said they expect to maintain service revenue growth at mid-single digits for the mobile business.
“Our EBITDA margin will moderate slightly due to the seasonality of investing in the summer campaign and the festive season,” he said.
Telkom versus Cell C
Comparing the results of Telkom’s mobile division with those of Cell C reveals one company on the rise and another on the decline.
Between 2017 and 2025, Telkom increased its mobile revenue from R6.0 billion to approximately R25.4 billion.
The company increased its mobile subscriber base from 4 million in 2017 to 24.5 million in 2025.
This rapid growth helped Telkom to overtake Cell C as the third-largest mobile operator in South Africa by 2022.
However, it was not only because Telkom performed well. Cell C has been losing subscribers to other mobile operators at a rapid rate.
In 2017, Cell C had 16.3 million mobile subscribers. This was significantly higher than Telkom Mobile’s 4 million.
However, over the next eight years, Cell C’s subscriber numbers dropped to 7.6 million, which means it is now only a third of the size of Telkom.
The decline in subscribers had a significant impact on Cell C’s top line, with revenue decreasing from R15.7 billion in 2017 to R11.1 billion in 2025.
This means that Cell C’s revenue went from nearly triple that of Telkom in 2017 to less than half eight years later.
Telkom’s strong performance is a key reason why the company’s share price increased by 68% over the last year.
With Cell C’s looming listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), investors will have to decide whether Telkom or Cell C is the best option.
While Cell C is making numerous promises to the market about future performance improvements, Telkom has shown that it can deliver.
Telkom versus Cell C mobile subscribers
Telkom versus Cell C mobile revenue
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