South Africa’s fibre and fixed-line broadband subscriptions
South Africa had 3,006,836 reported fibre-to-the-home or fibre-to-the-building subscriptions at 30 September 2025, up 541,383 from a year earlier. Fibre accounted for 92.11% of the fixed-line broadband subscriptions in ICASA’s chart, compared with 76.78% in 2021. ICASA’s March 2026 State of the ICT Sector report, Graph 34, p. 54
By Freepaid · Published
Five September snapshots
Graph 34 shows the number of subscriptions reported on 30 September each year. In the chart, the fixed-line total is the sum of fibre, DSL and other wired broadband. Freepaid divided the fibre count by that total to calculate the last column.
| Year | Fibre to the home or building | DSL | Other wired | Fixed-line total | Fibre share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,379,207 | 316,825 | 100,332 | 1,796,364 | 76.78% |
| 2022 | 1,365,429 | 264,241 | 22,710 | 1,652,380 | 82.63% |
| 2023 | 1,488,483 | 255,223 | 27,140 | 1,770,846 | 84.05% |
| 2024 | 2,465,453 | 241,947 | 28,568 | 2,735,968 | 90.11% |
| 2025 | 3,006,836 | 227,420 | 30,015 | 3,264,271 | 92.11% |
Fibre accounted for the net growth in 2025
The fixed-line total grew by 528,303 subscriptions, or 19.31%, from September 2024 to September 2025. The fibre count rose by more than the entire net increase because DSL fell by 14,527 while the other wired category gained 1,447. The total also fell in 2022 before rising again, so the gains over the full period came unevenly. These counts do not track individual customers moving from DSL to fibre.
What counts as a fibre subscription
ICASA’s definition covers subscriptions using fibre to the home or building. Fibre that terminates at a street cabinet or network node falls outside that category. The figures include service subscriptions at businesses and other organisations as well as residential subscriptions. They do not show how many households are able to order fibre. ICASA charts fixed wireless and satellite subscriptions separately in Graph 36. ICASA’s March 2026 report, pp. 54, 56 and 123–125
Stats SA asks a different question in its household survey: whether a household can access fixed internet at home. The household internet access reference compares that survey measure with mobile internet access by province.
Sources
The subscription counts come from ICASA’s March 2026 State of the ICT Sector report, Graph 34, p. 54. Freepaid calculated the share and year-on-year changes from the published counts.
Last source check · 3 November 2026.