Cell C, South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator, sees its next wave of growth coming not just from its own subscribers, but from the businesses selling mobile services through its network.
Cell C’s latest financial results, released on Friday, show that its wholesale and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) business is becoming a key growth engine. Wholesale revenue grew 20% year on year, while 5.7 million subscribers were using services provided by other brands on Cell C’s network by the end of May 2026. The company expects double-digit growth to continue in FY27.
The growth marks a change in Cell C’s business beyond selling mobile services directly to consumers. The company uses its network to support other brands that want to offer mobile services without building their own infrastructure, making wholesale and MVNOs an important part of its growth strategy.
An MVNO allows a company to offer mobile services without operating its own radio network. Cell C provides the underlying connectivity and infrastructure, while partner businesses can market mobile services to their own customers.
Its wholesale business effectively provides the network capacity and services these partners need, allowing Cell C to earn revenue from companies that use its infrastructure to serve their own customers.
Cell C said its wholesale business generated R1.8 billion ($111.8 million) in revenue in FY26 and accounted for 80% to 85% of South Africa’s MVNO market.
The telco ended the year with 8.9 million direct subscribers, up 17.1% year on year, alongside the 5.7 million MVNO subscribers using its platform. Cell C reported total revenue of R12.64 billion ($785.2 million), up 13.5%, while adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) increased 16.9% to R2.4 billion ($147.8 million).
Cell C says its asset-light, partnership-led model is supporting growth, with its wholesale and MVNO businesses becoming an important part of the strategy. Group chief executive officer (CEO) Jorge Mendes said the company had moved from recovery towards growth after completing its restructuring and listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in November 2025.
“Wholesale remained a standout performer and continues to validate our platform strategy, with sustained momentum in our MVNO business demonstrating the strength and scalability of Cell C’s partner-led model,” Mendes said in the results statement.
The results show that providing network services to MVNOs and other partners is becoming an important part of Cell C’s growth strategy. Cell C said the number of subscribers using MVNO services on its network rose 27.3% to 5.7 million from 4.5 million a year earlier.
The company’s consumer businesses also recorded growth. Prepaid revenue increased 9.7% to about R5.8 billion ($360.2 million), supported by a recovery in the customer base, with prepaid subscribers increasing by 1.3 million during the year.
Postpaid service revenue gained 1.2% to R2.3 billion ($142.9 million), while average revenue per user rose to R242 ($15.03) from R225 ($13.98) after the company cleaned up its subscriber base. Data traffic shot up 47% year on year, while voice traffic fell 4%.
Mendes noted that wholesale is central to the company’s growth plans. “Wholesale remains a key growth driver, and we expect double-digit revenue growth to continue supported by the continued strong performance of our MVNO business,” he stated.
Cell C enters FY27 with a stronger balance sheet after net debt fell to R2.02 billion ($125.5 million) from R5.7 billion ($353.4 million) a year earlier.
The telco expects overall revenue growth in the upper-single-digit range in FY27. It warned, however, that data rollover regulations due to take effect in January 2027 and lower mobile termination rates will put pressure on some revenue streams.
Cell C also expects its postpaid business to improve following the integration of Comm Equipment Company (CEC), a telecommunications equipment and services business it acquired in August 2025.
True scale demands moving beyond surface-level integrations to robust execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the conference strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, global financial operators, enterprise leaders and individuals rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks. Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
Comments
Post a Comment