South Africa’s mobile operators carried 21.5% more voice traffic in 2025 than the year before but earned R10.4-billion less from mobile services, according to Icasa’s latest State of the ICT Sector report — the starkest illustration yet of the revenue squeeze being inflicted by so-called over-the-top (OTT) platforms and intensifying price competition.
Total mobile services revenue fell 7.9% to R121.9-billion in the 12 months to September 2025, down from R132.4-billion a year earlier. The decline hit every major service category: mobile data revenue fell 3.1%, voice revenue dropped 2%, outbound roaming declined 12.4%, and text and multimedia messaging revenue collapsed 37.9%.
National mobile traffic, meanwhile, surged to 88.6 billion minutes from 73 billion, with outgoing mobile calls within the same network up 31.2%.
Icasa attributed the divergence directly to OTT substitution as consumers moved to platforms like WhatsApp. “Declines in SMS and voice revenue are consistent with long-term substitution towards OTT messaging and calling applications,” the report said. “While these platforms reduce monetisable usage of traditional services, they contribute to rising broadband demand as consumers rely increasingly on data-driven communication.”
The messaging collapse was the most dramatic. Revenue from text and multimedia messaging services fell from R4.1-billion to R2.6-billion — a 37.9% decline in a single year — as consumers moved to WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal for communication. Prepaid messaging revenue dropped even more sharply, falling 49.2%.
Prepaid voice revenue declined 7.6%, but prepaid data revenue rose 7.7% to R42.1-billion as consumers shifted spending towards data bundles for streaming, social media and mobile banking.
Fixed lines booming
The picture was markedly different in fixed-line broadband. Total fixed internet and data revenue grew 16.1% to R40.6-billion, driven by a 21.5% increase in revenue from fixed-wired broadband services. Fibre-to-the-home subscriptions topped three million for the first time, growing 22%. Total fixed broadband subscriptions rose 19.3% to 3.26 million.
The contrast underscores a structural shift in South Africa’s telecoms market: traditional mobile services are being hollowed out by OTT alternatives, while fixed broadband — particularly fibre — is absorbing an increasing share of both consumer spending and operator investment. Total telecoms investment pivoted accordingly, with fixed-wired investment rising 11.9% while mobile investment fell 21.0%.
Read: How a WhatsApp bundle exposed a fault line in SA mobile
Despite the mobile decline, overall telecoms revenue edged up 1.6% to R236.4-billion, buoyed by the strong performance in fixed internet and other services, which grew 14.7%. Fixed-line voice revenue, however, continued its long-term decline, falling 11.8%.
The broader ICT sector — encompassing telecoms, broadcasting and postal services — grew just 0.8% to R273.8-billion. Broadcasting revenue fell 4.6% to R33-billion, while postal revenue declined 2.3% to R4.3-billion.
Icasa used the report to signal a potential regulatory response, recommending a “comprehensive market enquiry into OTT communication and streaming services to assess their competitive impact on the ICT sector”. The department of communications’ draft white paper on audio and audiovisual media services, published in 2025, has already proposed that licensing obligations could apply to global streaming platforms once revenue thresholds are met.
The report covers the 12-month period ending 30 September 2025 and is based on questionnaire responses from 103 telecommunications licensees, 48 broadcasters and seven postal operators. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
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