Telkom has spent years operating in the shadow of Vodacom and MTN. That is changing. South Africa’s third-largest mobile network operator by subscribers has built a prepaid offering that is pulling customers away from its bigger rivals at a rate that is now showing up in their financial results — and forcing them to respond.
MTN South Africa’s Ebitda — earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation — fell 10.1% in 2025 to R17.7-billion. Prepaid revenue declined by 2.3% for the year. MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita was blunt: “The issue is the prepaid market.”
MTN has now announced it is changing one of its core prepaid products in an effort to fight back.
That product sits at the centre of this story.
WhatsApp is not a social media app in the way most people in wealthier markets use it. In South Africa it is infrastructure. People use it to receive payslips, manage small businesses, book medical appointments and send money. For the majority of prepaid customers it is the primary way they communicate.
Every major South African network sells a WhatsApp bundle. What those bundles actually cover differs significantly.
Telkom’s prepaid WhatsApp bundles include voice and video calling across every tier. The daily bundle costs R15 for unlimited WhatsApp use over 24 hours. The weekly bundle costs R35. The monthly bundle costs R100 for 31 days. All include voice-over-internet calls in the WhatsApp app.
MTN shifts strategy
MTN’s bundles, until a roll-out announced this week, excluded voice and video calling on most tiers. Its comparable weekly bundle, also priced at R35, capped usage at 1.5GB, with voice calling excluded. For the same price, a Telkom customer got unlimited data and calls.
Vodacom’s position requires more explanation.
When asked whether its prepaid WhatsApp bundles include voice and video calling, Vodacom said it did. “We can confirm that Vodacom’s prepaid WhatsApp bundles do include the WhatsApp voice and WhatsApp video call capability,” the company said. “The data associated with that call will be depleted from their WhatsApp bundle allocation.”
Read: MTN South Africa struggles as competition bites in prepaid
Vodacom’s own published terms and conditions describe the product differently:
- Clause 1 reads: “The WhatsApp Bundle offers customers access to WhatsApp messaging app, send and receive messages, videos and audio files via WhatsApp.” Calling is not mentioned.
- Clause 9 then states: “Voice calling and video calling will be depleted on the WhatsApp bundles, where this bundle is depleted continued usage will be consumed via any other active data bundle or at the applicable out of bundle rate.”
The two clauses do not tell the same story. Clause 1 describes a messaging product. Clause 9 confirms that calls draw down the bundle — and that when it runs out, which happens faster when calls are made, charges continue at out-of-bundle rates.
Most customers read neither clause. They buy based on what they are told at point of sale or through advertising.
Simo Mkhize, Telkom Consumer’s chief commercial officer, told TechCentral the decision to include calling in WhatsApp came down to what customers were actually doing with the app.
“Customers are using WhatsApp as a predominant app of engagement, whether it’s for messaging, for business, and therefore we felt that allowing calling is what the customers also need,” he said.
He framed the broader strategy around access for lower-income users, arguing that WhatsApp has become a gateway to the digital economy — enabling banking and a range of other services. “We want to really look back and say we are not leaving anyone behind in this digital ecosystem,” he said.
Asked whether Telkom was concerned about cannibalising its own voice revenue, Mkhize reframed the question. “Cannibalisation is not the word I would use. The word I would use is evolution.”
The distinction matters. Telkom’s business model is built on selling data, not voice. Including WhatsApp calling in a prepaid bundle is a low-cost decision for Telkom. For MTN and Vodacom, whose revenue models still depend significantly on traditional voice calls, it means accelerating a decline they are already trying to manage. MTN South Africa’s voice revenue fell 4.2% in 2025.
That structural difference explains why Telkom moved first — and why it took pressure on its rivals’ bottom lines for the others to follow.
WhatsApp calling
MTN confirmed to TechCentral it is now adding WhatsApp calling to its bundles in a phased roll-out that started this week. “MTN understands that our prepaid customers increasingly rely on WhatsApp for everyday communication, including voice and video calling,” the company said. It did not say what prompted the change.
Read: Why MTN still won’t rule out a deal with Telkom
Cell C, meanwhile, offers WhatsApp bundles with calling but only during defined promotional windows — not as a permanent feature. During those windows, it offers 1GB of WhatsApp for seven days at R10, the lowest weekly price in the market. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
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