South Africa’s mobile network operators pumped more than R700 million into advertising in the second half of 2025, underscoring shifting network narratives and strategic repositioning across the local telecoms industry.
This is according to the Telecoms Adspend and Trends Report, compiled by research firm Ornico, which reviews the total adspend of mobile network operators for July to December 2025.
The report notes Vodacom, MTN, Telkom and Cell C spent R708 million across 109 306 ad executions across television, radio and print media during the period.
Regulatory shifts, 5G expansion and subscriber retention pressures shaped advertising patterns across all four operators. All telecoms firms analysed are assessed in their South African operating context, not across their Pan-African footprints, it notes.
“The South African telecoms sector demonstrated robust advertising activity. The data illustrates clear market dominance by Vodacom, alongside varying strategies from competitors MTN, Telkom and Cell C,” the report states.
Vodacom accounted for more than half of total sector spend, investing R354.6 million across 64 799 ad executions. This is more than double the outlay of nearest rival MTN, which spent R174 million on 25 599 ads, in the period, notes the report.
“Vodacom dominated with over R354 million in adspend (about 50% of the total) and 64 799 ad executions − more than double MTN's figures.
“The scale of investment suggests Vodacom's aggressive push to maintain its position as South Africa's largest mobile operator by subscriber base, potentially focusing on broad consumer outreach.”
Telkom followed in third position, with R133.4 million spent and 14 015 ad executions, while Cell C trailed at R45.6 million and 4 893 ads.
“Vodacom leads the pack by a wide margin, outspending the nearest competitor MTN by more than double (R354.6 million vs R174 million) and running over 2.5x more ad flightings,” the report highlights.
“Cell C trails significantly behind the field, with adspend and flightings a fraction of what Telkom, MTN and Vodacom invest.”
Seasonal surges
According to the report, monthly advert flightings show distinct tactical shifts.
Vodacom maintained consistently high volumes, peaking at around 13 000 executions in July and August, before tapering to roughly 8 200 in December. MTN, by contrast, exhibited pronounced volatility, with a sharp spike to approximately 6 800 executions in December.
“While most brands saw a small decline in flightings for December, MTN’s activity increased dramatically,” the report states. “The December surge is possibly tied to year-end promotions or holiday and summer campaigns, including Black Friday and festive deals.”
Telkom ramped up activity in October and November, averaging between 3 200 and 3 500 monthly executions, while Cell C remained comparatively stable at lower volumes of 500 to 1 500 ads per month. This pattern suggests a conservative, highly-targeted approach rather than mass-market saturation.
The advertising data coincides with a period of heightened network performance scrutiny and competitive rankings, the report points out. It adds that adspend patterns likely reflect efforts to combat subscriber churn or promote new services, like 5G expansions.
Research reports by MyBroadband and Opensignal during 2025 consistently ranked MTN at or near the top in network speed, voice performance and overall mobile experience, the report states. In one widely-cited assessment, MTN won 11 of 15 categories, while Vodacom led in 5G speeds.
These factors may have reduced MTN’s need for sustained heavy advertising outside peak periods, aligning with its more opportunistic adspend pattern and December spike. The report suggests Vodacom’s scale “counters network speed ranking slips”, reinforcing brand leadership through sustained visibility.
According to the study, Cell C’s comparatively modest R46 million adspend must be viewed in the context of its strategic reset.
Mobile virtual network operators are central to Cell C’s turnaround strategy, leveraging infrastructure partnerships with MTN and Vodacom, rather than owning capital-intensive network assets.
“Cell C's minimal advertising spend is a deliberate strategic choice, not a weakness,” the report explains.
“By outsourcing network infrastructure to MTN and Vodacom through an MVNO [mobile virtual network operator] model, it avoids heavy capital expenditure and instead channels resources into partnership-driven subscriber growth, turning financial constraint into a lean, scalable business model.”
The period under review also coincided with regulatory and market shifts that likely shaped campaign messaging.
Planned 2G/3G switch-offs may have triggered device upgrade and migration campaigns. Meanwhile, 5G rollouts and affordability messaging featured prominently in broader telecoms sector coverage.
“The research illustrates a competitive landscape where Vodacom's scale overwhelms rivals, MTN shows opportunistic surges, and smaller players like Cell C opt for efficient, medium-specific tactics.”
For IT buyers and enterprise customers, the numbers signal where operators are placing their strategic bets − on network quality, 5G positioning, asset-light scalability and aggressive customer acquisition ahead of a rapidly-evolving connectivity landscape, it points out.
TV still king
Television remained the dominant advertising medium for the larger operators, says the Ornica report.
TV accounted for R230 million of Vodacom’s spend (19 000 ads), R120 million for MTN (11 000 ads) and R95 million for Telkom (7 000 ads), with a preference for satellite channels. This aligns with high-reach, high-visibility brand positioning strategies aimed at mass-market audiences.
Cell C diverged sharply from this model. The operator allocated R45 million to radio (6 000 ads), and R5 million on TV (1 000 ads), using channels such as SABC 1 and e.tv.
“In contrast, Cell C leaned heavily on radio over TV − likely a cost-effective choice for niche or regional targeting,” the report indicates.
Vodacom’s advertising mix reveals a deliberate multi-channel strategy. Its radio investment of R120 million across 33 000 ads points to a balanced media plan, leveraging audio to reinforce top-of-mind awareness alongside TV, it adds.
Print activity across all operators was negligible, averaging around 1 000 ads per brand with minimal spend, reinforcing the continued structural shift toward electronic and broadcast channels.
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