Telkom has spent Worked in the shadow of Vodacom and MTN for years. He is changing. South Africa's third-largest mobile network operator by subscribers has created a prepaid offering that is drawing customers away from its larger rivals is now showing up in its financial results – and is forcing them to respond.
MTN South Africa's EBITDA – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization – fell 10.1% Up to R17.7 billion in 2025. Prepaid revenues declined 2.3% for the year. MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita put it bluntly: “The issue is the prepaid market.”
MTN has now announced that it is changing one of its main prepaid products in an effort to compete.
That product is at the center of this story.
WhatsApp is not a social media app in the way most people in wealthier markets use it. South Africa has this infrastructure. People use it to receive pay slips, manage small businesses, book medical appointments, and send money. For most prepaid customers this is the primary way to communicate.
Every major South African network sells WhatsApp bundles. What exactly those bundles cover varies considerably.
Telkom's prepaid WhatsApp bundles include voice and video calling at every tier. The daily bundle costs R15 for unlimited WhatsApp usage 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 changed strategy
Voice and video calling were not included in MTN's bundles at most tiers until the roll-out was announced this week. Its comparable weekly bundle, also priced at R35, has a maximum usage limit of 1.5GB, which does not include voice calling. At the same price, Telkom customer got unlimited data and calls.
Vodacom's position requires further clarification.
When asked if its prepaid WhatsApp bundle included voice and video calling, Vodacom said it did. “We can confirm that Vodacom's prepaid WhatsApp bundles include WhatsApp voice and WhatsApp video calling capability,” the company said. “The data associated with that call will be exhausted from their WhatsApp bundle allocation.”
Reading: MTN South Africa struggles as competition increases in prepaid
Vodacom's self-published terms and conditions describe the product differently:
- Section 1 reads: “The WhatsApp Bundle provides customers with access to the WhatsApp messaging app to send and receive messages, video and audio files through WhatsApp.” There is no mention of calling.
- Clause 9 states: “Voice calling and video calling on WhatsApp bundles will terminate where this bundle expires, with continued usage being consumed through another active data bundle or at the applicable out of bundle rate.”
The two volumes do not tell the same story. Section 1 describes a messaging product. Clause 9 confirms that the call reduces to the bundle – and when it ends, which happens faster if the call is made, charges continue at rates outside the bundle.
Most customers don't read any sections. They make purchases based on what they are told at the point of sale or through advertising.
simo mkhizeTelkom Consumer's chief commercial officer told TechCentral that the decision to include calling in WhatsApp depends on what customers are actually doing with the app.
“Customers are using WhatsApp as a major app of engagement, whether it's for messaging, for business, and so we felt that allowing calling was also something customers needed,” he said.
He laid out a broader strategy around accessibility for low-income users, arguing that WhatsApp had become a gateway to the digital economy – enabling banking and many other services. “We really want to look back and say we're not leaving anyone behind in this digital ecosystem,” he said.
Asked whether Telkom was worried about destroying its own voice revenues, Mkhize reframed the question. “Cannibalism is not the word I would use. The word I would use is evolution.”
Difference matters. Telkom's business model is based on selling data, not voice. Including WhatsApp calling in the prepaid bundle is a cheap decision for Telkom. For MTN and Vodacom, whose revenue models are still heavily dependent on traditional voice calls, this means accelerating the decline they are already trying to manage. MTN South Africa's voice revenue to fall 4.2% in 2025.
That structural difference explains why Telkom moved first – and why it put pressure on its rivals' bottom lines for others to follow.
whatsapp calling
MTN confirmed to TechCentral that it is now adding WhatsApp calling to its bundles in a phased roll-out that began this week. “MTN understands that our prepaid customers are relying on WhatsApp for everyday communications, including voice and video calling,” the company said. It did not say what prompted the change.
Reading: Why will MTN still not refuse the deal with Telkom?
Cell C, meanwhile, offers WhatsApp bundled 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 on the market. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
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