Cell C has closed its first full financial year as a listed company. And it has a major win to show for it. The South African telecom operator says subscribers across the mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) it hosts climbed to 5.7 million. That is a 27.3% jump from 4.5 million a year earlier.
The results cover the year ended 31 May 2026. So far, these are the first full-year numbers Cell C has released since it listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2025. Because of that, the report carries extra weight. Investors are watching closely to see how the company performs under public market scrutiny.
Cell C’s total subscriber base also grew fast. It rose 17.1% year-on-year to almost 9 million, up from 7.6 million. Still, the MVNO segment stood out as the clear growth driver. Wholesale revenue jumped 20% to R1.76 billion for the year. The division alone added 1.2 million new MVNO subscribers.
Data usage from MVNO customers surged too. It grew by 131%. That easily outpaced the 47% data growth recorded across the wider group. In short, MVNO users are not just growing in number. They are also using more data.
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Cell C now hosts an estimated 80% to 85% of all MVNO subscribers in South Africa. The country has the largest number of active MVNOs on the continent. According to reports, 23 operators have sold more than 7 million SIM cards between them. Most of that traffic runs on Cell C’s infrastructure.
The company’s strategy has changed a lot in recent years. Instead of fighting Vodacom and MTN for retail customers, Cell C chose a different path. It became a wholesale infrastructure enabler. It shut down its own physical tower network. Now it leases capacity to banks and retailers who want to launch their own mobile offerings.
So far, this approach has paid off. Cell C powers some of South Africa’s biggest banking and retail virtual networks. These include Capitec Connect, FNB Connect, Shoprite’s Knect Mobile, Standard Bank Mobile, Nedbank Connect, and Mr Price Mobile. Capitec Connect alone had passed two million subscribers by the half-year mark.
Group CEO Jorge Mendes led Cell C through its JSE listing. He described the past year as the point when the turnaround became a platform for growth. Next, he said, the focus shifts to turning that platform into higher-quality growth and stronger cash generation.
Looking ahead, Cell C expects revenue growth of 5% to 10% for the new financial year. That forecast builds on an adjusted FY2026 revenue base of R13.6 billion, compared to the R12.64 billion actually reported. The company also expects adjusted EBITDA to rise to around R3 billion, up from R2.38 billion. Meanwhile, capital expenditure is guided at R750 million to R850 million.
Mendes also explained a key industry pattern. Customers who switch to MVNOs tend to leave traditional networks in rough proportion to each operator’s market share. Since Cell C is South Africa’s fourth-largest mobile operator by direct subscribers, it loses the least in that shift. At the same time, its wholesale business puts it in the strongest position to win that spending back indirectly.
Overall, the results suggest Cell C’s bet on infrastructure hosting is paying off. A year into life as a public company, the strategy is clearly beginning to show returns.
