[dropcap]T[/dropcap]elkom’s data-led FreeMe tariff plans, launched in the middle of 2016, appear to have taken the market by storm, with the company reporting service revenue growth of 38,4% from its mobile business driven by an increase in the active subscriber base, which climbed 47,7%.
The JSE-listed telecommunications group said in notes alongside its annual financial results, published on Monday, that its post-paid base grew by 54,5% to 1,2m with average revenue per user of R181, supported by FreeMe.
“Of our post-paid subscribers, 13% use FreeMe, of which 79% are new customers,” Telkom said. “On the back of this successful product, we launched FreeMe Family in February 2017, which allows subscribers to share their data bundles with up to nine members of their families or in a small business.”
The company said the mobile unit was also lifted by expansion of its network, extension of its distribution channels and an increased store footprint.
It delivered strong performance in mobile broadband, with mobile data revenue increasing 49,6% to R2,4bn, supported by an increase of 44,6% in mobile broadband subscribers to 2,6m.
“Following the ‘refarming’ of our 1 800MHz spectrum to extend our LTE offering to smartphones, we observed a good growth of 45,7% in our smartphone base to 1,9m.” — (c) 2017 NewsCentral Media