What Telkom Business does

Telkom Business is the business segment of Telkom SA SOC Limited, a South African telecommunications company founded in 1991 and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE: TEL) since 2003, retaining its State-Owned Company designation alongside public trading. The company operates national fibre, LTE, and 5G infrastructure, supplemented by Openserve fibre network integration, delivering fixed and mobile connectivity, devices, and digital services to Personal, Business, and Enterprise customer segments across South Africa. Its platform-plus-modules architecture layers connectivity with wholly-owned subsidiaries including Telkom Pay (WhatsApp-based payments), Telkom Insure (device insurance), Telkom Learn (education), Telkom Lend (lending), and Yep! (local marketplace), with multi-channel distribution spanning physical retail stores, e-commerce, self-service portals, mobile apps, WhatsApp, and dedicated enterprise field sales.

The revenue model is anchored in recurring subscription revenue from mobile, fibre, LTE, and 5G plans, complemented by device sales through 24-36 month FlexOn installment contracts, usage-based prepaid airtime and data bundles, and subscription-based financial services (insurance and lending). Pricing in South African Rand spans mass-market tiers from R139/month data bundles to R469/month fibre plans, with device bundles reaching R449/month over 36 months. Distribution is omnichannel — direct-to-consumer via online and retail, plus enterprise field sales — and customer segmentation is horizontal across SMB and enterprise tiers. The company holds Financial Services Provider authorization (FSP no. 46037), enabling regulated distribution of insurance and lending products as part of its ecosystem strategy.

Name

Telkom Business

Legal name

Telkom SA SOC Limited

Website

https://telkombusiness.co.za

Company type

Public

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Telkom Business is the enterprise and SMB arm of Telkom SA SOC Limited, providing fibre, LTE, and 5G connectivity, devices, and digital services to South African businesses, supplemented by wholly-owned subsidiaries in payments, insurance, education, and lending.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Telecommunications Services

NAICS

Wired and Wireless Telecommunications (except Satellite) (5171), Wired and Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) (51711), Wired Telecommunications Carriers (517111)

SIC

Telephone Communications (No Radiotelephone) (4813), Radiotelephone Communications (4812), Telephone & Telegraph Apparatus (3661)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise & B2B Mobile Network Operators (HDAIAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private LTE/5G Mobile Network Operators (Campus/Industrial) (HDAIAAAE), Cloud PBX & Hosted Telephony (HDAIAHAB), Telco Cloud & Edge for NaaS (Distributed Cloud, MEC, Edge CNFs) (HDAIAIAE)

Keywords

• Business connectivity services
• Mobile telecommunications
• Fibre internet services
• Enterprise network solutions
• Digital business services

Headquarters

HQ city

South Africa

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Mobile Services: Recurring revenue from mobile voice and data plans for business customers with various data bundles and speed tiers
2. Fibre Connectivity: Monthly subscription revenue from fibre internet services including Stream Connect, Core, Endless Fibre, Easy Connect and Prepaid Fibre options for business connectivity
3. LTE Services: Recurring revenue from LTE wireless internet solutions with various speed and data packages for businesses
4. 5G Internet: Premium 5G internet connectivity services with top-up recharge capability for high-speed business needs
5. Device Sales: Hardware sales including smartphones, tablets and routers through installment payment plans (24-36 month terms) and outright purchases
6. Prepaid Services: Prepaid airtime, data bundles and voice bundles including daily, weekly and monthly options with all-network and network-specific packages
7. Financial Services: Device insurance, lending products and financial services for business customers

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Telkom Business is the enterprise and SMB division of Telkom SA SOC Limited, providing fixed and mobile connectivity (fibre, LTE, 5G), mobile voice and data plans, devices, digital transformation services, smart office solutions, and business-focused financial services (insurance and lending) to South African business customers. The division operates over a national fibre, LTE and 5G network infrastructure and supplements connectivity offerings with mobile apps, payment platforms and bundled device financing.

Product overview

Telkom Business is a telecommunications company operating a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offerings include Fibre Internet (with variants: Stream Connect, Core & Endless Fibre, Easy Connect, Prepaid Fibre), LTE Mobile Internet, and 5G services. Supporting modules include MyTelkom App for account management, business solutions (Mobile, Internet Solutions, Digital Services, Smart Office), financial services (Telkom Lend, Telkom Insure), communication bundles (Mo'Town, WhatsApp Bundles, Weekend Bundles), and consumer services (Telkom Pay, Telkom Learn, Yep! marketplace, Smart Home). The portfolio is structured for both personal and business market segments, with integration across mobile, fixed-line, and digital service platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yep!: Local business discovery marketplace connecting users with local businesses.
• Telkom Learn
• Telkom Pay
• Telkom Insure
• MyTelkom
• Plug'd
• Telkom Thola
• Mo-Town
• Tap2win
• Mo'Nice
• FlexOn
• Stream Connect

Products and services

• Fibre Internet
• LTE Mobile Internet
• 5G Internet
• Business Mobile
• Business Internet Solutions
• Business Digital Services
• Smart Office
• Telkom Pay
• Telkom Insure
• Telkom Lend
• Telkom Learn
• Yep! Marketplace
• Smart Home
• HUAWEI nova 15 Max
• Huawei nova Y73

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• HuaweicoreTechnology or IntegrationHuawei devices including nova Y73, nova 15 Max smartphones and E5576 routers are sold through Telkom channels. Huawei is a key device vendor partner for mobile hardware offerings in the consumer and business segments.
• SamsungcoreTechnology or IntegrationSamsung devices including Galaxy Tab A11 tablets are sold through Telkom. Samsung is a major device hardware partner providing mobile devices and tablets for business and consumer customers.
• OpenservecoreTechnology or IntegrationOpenserve Prime fibre service referenced in connection with fibre offerings. Openserve provides fibre network infrastructure that Telkom utilizes for delivering fibre connectivity services to business customers.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Liquid Intelligent Technologies: Pan-African fibre and connectivity provider serving enterprise customers; comparable in fibre and enterprise connectivity across African markets.
• Openserve: Wholesale fibre infrastructure provider in South Africa and a related party to Telkom; comparable in fibre network operations and a key infrastructure partner for Telkom's fibre business.
• BT Group: UK integrated fixed and mobile operator with enterprise and consumer connectivity plus adjacent digital services; comparable as a mature incumbent exploring converged telecom-plus-digital models.

Direct peers

• Cell C: South African mobile network operator competing in prepaid and postpaid mobile segments; comparable in geography and core product focus.
• MTN Group: Pan-African mobile operator with a strong South African footprint; competes head-to-head with Telkom across mobile voice/data, fibre, and enterprise services.
• Rain: South African data-centric mobile operator with 5G focus; competes directly with Telkom's LTE/5G fixed-wireless propositions for both consumer and SME customers.
• Vodacom Group: Largest mobile network operator in South Africa with overlapping mobile, fibre, and enterprise offerings. Most directly comparable competitor on the home market across the same product stack.

Regional players

• Airtel Africa: Africa-focused mobile network operator with mobile money (Airtel Money); comparable as a regional telco peer expanding digital financial services across emerging African markets.
• Telkom Kenya: Kenyan mobile operator with 4G/5G ambitions; comparable in product mix (mobile + data) and similar emerging-market telco dynamics, though serving a different geography.
• Safaricom: Kenyan integrated telecom with mobile, fibre, and fintech (M-Pesa) — a strong reference point for Telkom's bundled telco-plus-fintech model, though operating in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/TelkomZA
• YouTubeyoutube.com/telkom
• Facebookfacebook.com/TelkomZA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/telkom-business

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Telkom Business