South Africa’s prepaid mobile revenue: data, voice and messaging
South African operators reported R42.12 billion in prepaid mobile data revenue in the year to 30 September 2025, up R2.99 billion from the previous year. Prepaid voice revenue moved the other way, falling R1.57 billion to R19.11 billion. Of the three prepaid services ICASA tracks together, data made up 68.47% of reported revenue in 2025, compared with 52.26% in 2021. ICASA’s March 2026 State of the ICT Sector report, Graph 12, p. 28
By Freepaid · Published
Five years of reported prepaid revenue
Each row covers the 12 months to 30 September. The revenue figures are in rand as reported by ICASA, with no adjustment for inflation. Freepaid calculated the final column by dividing data revenue by the sum of the three categories.
| Year ended 30 September | Mobile data | Mobile voice | Mobile messaging | Data share of the three categories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | R31,157,104,593 | R27,579,347,445 | R877,342,773 | 52.26% |
| 2022 | R32,846,805,636 | R24,740,085,157 | R798,812,827 | 56.26% |
| 2023 | R34,628,791,106 | R21,322,759,923 | R655,662,385 | 61.17% |
| 2024 | R39,123,488,942 | R20,688,642,281 | R544,555,128 | 64.82% |
| 2025 | R42,115,916,083 | R19,114,934,687 | R276,570,506 | 68.47% |
The revenue mix changed faster than the total
Data revenue rose 35.17% from 2021 to 2025, while voice revenue fell 30.69%. Yet the three categories combined went from R59.61 billion to R61.51 billion over the same period. Looking at the combined figure alone would hide how much the mix shifted. Data’s share rose by 16.21 percentage points.
Messaging revenue also fell in each year shown. The figures track what operators reported earning from prepaid mobile messaging. They cannot show how often people used messaging apps or how many messages they sent.
What a prepaid seller can take from the figures
The figures show why it helps to track airtime and data separately in a sales report. A shop can see which products customers ask for, what they actually buy and which requests it could not fill. The national revenue figures cannot tell the shop which bundle size or network to carry, or how much it will earn per sale.
ICASA’s revenue figures add up activity over a full year. Its subscription counts are snapshots taken at the end of September. Read the prepaid subscription reference alongside this one to see both measures. Together they show that reported prepaid data revenue rose in 2025 while the prepaid subscription count fell. They do not show what any one customer spent or why the count changed.
Sources
Revenue figures come from ICASA’s March 2026 State of the ICT Sector report, Graph 12 and Appendix 3. Freepaid calculated the shares and changes from the unrounded figures in Graph 12.
Last source check · 3 November 2026.