South Africa’s Cell C finds a new growth engine in MVNOs

Cell C, South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator, sees its next wave of growth coming not just from its own subscribers, but from the businesses selling mobile services through its network.

Cell C’s latest financial results, released on Friday, show that its wholesale and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) business is becoming a key growth engine. Wholesale revenue grew 20% year on year, while 5.7 million subscribers were using services provided by other brands on Cell C’s network by the end of May 2026. The company expects double-digit growth to continue in FY27.

The growth marks a change in Cell C’s business beyond selling mobile services directly to consumers. The company uses its network to support other brands that want to offer mobile services without building their own infrastructure, making wholesale and MVNOs an important part of its growth strategy. 

An MVNO allows a company to offer mobile services without operating its own radio network. Cell C provides the underlying connectivity and infrastructure, while partner businesses can market mobile services to their own customers.

Its wholesale business effectively provides the network capacity and services these partners need, allowing Cell C to earn revenue from companies that use its infrastructure to serve their own customers.

Cell C said its wholesale business generated R1.8 billion ($111.8 million) in revenue in FY26 and accounted for 80% to 85% of South Africa’s MVNO market. 

The telco ended the year with 8.9 million direct subscribers, up 17.1% year on year, alongside the 5.7 million MVNO subscribers using its platform. Cell C reported total revenue of R12.64 billion ($785.2 million), up 13.5%, while adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) increased 16.9% to R2.4 billion…