How much data MTN subscribers use in South Africa

MTN South Africa’s active prepaid data subscribers consume nearly 3.2GB per month, while postpaid subscribers each use an average of 22.5GB per month, the mobile network operator reported in its annual results on Monday.

This represents a 9.5% year-on-year increase in prepaid data consumption and a massive 36.5% increase in postpaid data usage.

MTN said the bulk of this growth could be attributed to its residential customers’ uptake of fixed wireless access products.

MTN South Africa’s overall revenue increased by 1.5% from R51.8 billion to R52.6 billion, while service revenue grew by 3.1% from R41.9 billion to R43.2 billion. Service revenue increased despite a 5.5% decrease in voice revenue.

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) in South Africa rose by 5.1%. Excluding gains from the disposal of towers and R212 million from the sale of insurance receivable, Ebitda was up 4.4% year-on-year.

MTN said South Africa’s overall result was supported by a 6.4% increase in subscribers to 39.8 million, a net addition of 2.4 million during the year.

“Postpaid subscribers, excluding telemetry, increased by 6.1% to 4.3 million, driven by stronger uptake of home propositions, as well as integrated voice and data plans,” MTN said.

MTN reported that its prepaid customers increased by 5.5% to 29.9 million, and its customer value management (CVM) initiatives continued to gain momentum in 2024. Personalised bundle offerings are now available across multiple channels.

“These offerings, designed to enhance pricing power and provide greater flexibility to consumers, saw steady growth in CVM adoption, reaching 34% in Q4, compared to 29% in Q4 2023, reflecting strong customer adoption.”

MTN said South Africa continued to face a challenging macro environment in 2024, with interest rates remaining relatively elevated and economic growth subdued.

“Despite the substantial reduction in load-shedding in 2024, economic growth remained subdued — with GDP estimated to grow by a relatively muted 0.6% — exacerbating the elevated levels of unemployment in the country,” it said.

MTN also said there was an intensification of competition in South Africa’s telecoms sector.

“Looking ahead, the local macroeconomic environment appears to be stabilising. However, the South African economy remains under some pressure given the high levels of unemployment and sluggish GDP growth,” MTN said.

“With the improved trends in inflation and the recent interest rate reductions, there is some optimism on the consumer’s ability to increase economic activity.”

MTN said these developments should support the expected recovery in data performance in the first and second quarters of 2025.

“Prepaid service revenue growth is expected to remain under pressure in the first quarter. However, MTN SA is repositioning its propositions to prepaid customers, with initiatives already implemented from February into early March 2025,” it said.

“These include enhancing regionalised and personalised offers, as well as increased focus in the channels to improve the growth trajectory from Q2 2025.”

MTN’s focus on 5G

MTN said its South African business would continue to evolve its data propositions, with a focus on 5G, to enhance value share in the market and accelerate revenue growth.

“Executing on the home strategy will remain a key priority, to accelerate growth in residential customers on both FTTH and FWA,” it said.

“As some key enterprise contracts come up for renewal and MTN SA drives initiatives to sustain penetration growth in the segment, it is anticipated to result in some short-term pressure on margin performance.”

However, MTN said the initiatives are expected to accelerate enterprise revenue expansion, supporting margin recovery as the year progresses.

“The priority for MTN SA is to recover its profitability and cash flow profile, underpinned by the focus on accelerating topline growth and Ebitda margin towards its medium-term targets,” it said.

MTN said that expanding broadband coverage, especially in rural communities, is another important priority.

During the past financial year, MTN said its capital expenditure was R16.3 billion on an IFRS 16 reported basis, R9.8 billion, excluding leases.