Telkom recently announced its latest annual results, which showed significant growth in its mobile network division.

Mobile service revenue increased by 47% to R5.2 billion at Telkom, and active mobile subscribers were up 30% to just over 5.2 million.

Data revenue on its mobile network increased by 56% to nearly R3.7 billion, with mobile data subscribers increasing by 38% to over 3.6 million.

“Our mobile business is now a key driver of growth in the group, offsetting the decline in BCX and Openserve,” said Telkom.

Launched as 8.ta on 14 October 2010, Telkom’s mobile division has undergone several transformations in recent years.

It became Telkom Mobile in March 2013, and finally just “Telkom” in August 2014.

Although it is still dwarfed by Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C, Telkom has achieved impressive growth in a competitive mobile market.

This is good news for Telkom, which is losing fixed-line subscribers on its copper network – as landlines and DSL services become less attractive thanks to the rollout of fibre networks.

To put Telkom’s mobile growth into perspective, take a look at the growth graphs below.

Telkom mobile subscribers – 2011 to 2018

These are subscribers who have been active in the past 90 days during the measured periods.

Telkom mobile broadband subscribers – 2014 to 2018

These include smartphone users.

Telkom mobile service revenue – 2011 to 2018

This includes revenue from mobile voice and subscriptions, mobile interconnection, and mobile data.

Telkom mobile data revenue – 2012 to 2018

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