Vodacom’s mobile voice revenue is sliding into the same kind of long-term decline that once reshaped SMS, and that admission from Shameel Joosub matters because it comes from the man leading South Africa’s biggest mobile network. In a candid interview on Monday, the Vodacom Group CEO effectively confirmed what many in the industry have been seeing for years: voice is no longer the cash cow it once was, and the shift away from it is gathering pace.
“It’s not dissimilar to what we went through with SMS,” Joosub told TechCentral, drawing a direct comparison between the fading role of text messaging and the future of traditional calls. For a sector that was built on minutes and airtime, the statement is striking. It signals not just a product cycle change, but a fundamental reshaping of how South Africans use their phones and how telecoms companies make money.
At Vodacom, voice now accounts for just 29% of South African service revenue. That is a far cry from the early years of the mobile market, when voice traffic dominated operator income and underpinned network investment, market valuations and subscriber acquisition strategies. Today, however, the balance has shifted, and the company is having to plan for a future in which calls are no longer central to growth.
Joosub said the erosion is being driven by data networks replacing legacy calling behaviour. As more customers rely on internet-based communication, traditional voice usage is being squeezed from both sides. “You’re still going through that structural decline as more and more people also start to use voice-over IP services, and things like WhatsApp voice,” he said. “So, you do have some of that cannibalisation in your numbers.”
That cannibalisation is not just technical; it is cultural. South Africans increasingly view communication through apps first, not through the dial pad. A quick WhatsApp call, a voice note, or even a group chat often replaces the need for a standard cellular call. In practical terms, that means fewer billed voice minutes and less revenue from a product that once defined the mobile industry.
The pressure is especially evident in a market where operators must grow data fast enough to make up for the decline in voice. Joosub put it plainly: “Effectively, your data growth needs to be big enough to offset some of the structural voice decline.” That is the core challenge facing the sector now. If data growth slows, the revenue gap left by voice becomes harder to close.
Mobile voice revenue faces competition from cheaper calls and data-first habits
The decline is being sharpened by competition, particularly in the prepaid market, where pricing remains fiercely contested. A growing number of mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs, are taking aim at the established players. Among the most aggressive is Capitec Connect, which recently started offering free on-net calls between its SIMs.
That kind of offer may seem small on the surface, but in a highly price-sensitive market it can shift customer behaviour fast. It also chips away at the old assumption that voice minutes can be priced as a premium feature. Vodacom has already had to adjust some of its prepaid offers in response to market pressure, and Joosub admitted that the repricing “ended up with a bit of a negative result” for the company’s financial performance.
The broader problem, he said, is not only competition but the state of the South African economy. Consumer spending remains under pressure, and that weak economic backdrop is limiting appetite for higher mobile spend. Joosub said the economy is “probably being the major part of that”, with MVNOs and other operators adding to the squeeze.
This matters because telecoms companies have long relied on consumer mobile services as a stable revenue engine. But that model is being tested from all sides. As we reported earlier, the mobile market is no longer simply about cheaper calling plans or larger bundles. It is about whether operators can build enough value in adjacent services to stay ahead of the decline.
When asked whether voice might eventually stop being a meaningful revenue source, Joosub suggested it will still exist, but in a much diminished form. “In a lot of cases, you’ll have bigger voice bundles, but I think it will be mainly data going forward,” he said. “Data and all your beyond mobile services.”
That “beyond mobile” segment is increasingly important to Vodacom’s strategy. It includes financial services, fibre, digital offerings and the internet of things, all areas where the company expects stronger growth than in the core consumer voice market. In the 2026 financial year, those businesses generated R29.8-billion, representing 22.3% of group service revenue. Vodacom wants that share to rise to around 30% by 2030.
The numbers show why. Vodacom’s South African financial services revenue grew 8.1% to R3.7-billion, while Vodacom Business cloud, hosting and security revenue climbed 27.1%. The group has also completed its R12.6-billion fibre deal through Maziv, underscoring how seriously it is treating connectivity beyond the mobile handset.
These are not side projects anymore. They are becoming the real growth story. In many ways, Vodacom is doing what every major telecom operator eventually has to do: move away from a mature voice business and build new revenue streams higher up the value chain. That includes digital services, enterprise solutions and infrastructure plays that can deliver better margins than basic calls ever could.
For South African consumers, the shift may be easy to miss because it is happening in the background of everyday phone use. But for the industry, it is one of the most important transitions in years. The product that built the local mobile market is losing relevance as a standalone revenue driver, and the winners will be those that adapt fastest.
Joosub’s comparison of voice to SMS is more than a throwaway line. It is a sign that Vodacom accepts the old model is fading, and that the future of the business lies elsewhere. As our sources and the latest results suggest, voice is no longer the centre of gravity. Data, digital services and diversified connectivity are now doing the heavy lifting, and that trend is only likely to deepen from here.