Cell C benefited from revenue growth that was underpinned by improved subscriber base management and stronger value propositions. Distribution partnerships were strengthened, supporting customer acquisition and reinforcing the brand's position at a critical stage in the turnaround. Revenue quality improved, supported by a more balanced mix of Prepaid, Postpaid, Wholesale and Enterprise revenue streams.

The Prepaid subscriber base continued to grow, supported by Cell C's extensive distribution footprint and strong presence across informal, semi-formal and retail channels, where prepaid remains the dominant product. This broad market reach has helped drive accessibility and sustained growth across both urban and peri-urban markets.

The recovery of the Postpaid subscriber base was supported by targeted growth initiatives and new sales partnerships. At the start of the strategy period, the Postpaid business was managed by CEC, an entity within the Blu Label Unlimited Group, with Cell C having limited visibility into day-to-day operations and little direct control over the end-to-end brand and customer experience. Our acquisition of CEC in November 2025 gave us full ownership and control of its Postpaid business. The integration will deliver an improved trajectory for Postpaid growth over the medium term.

A central pillar of Cell C's strategy was the expansion of its wholesale and MVNO ecosystem. The company has positioned itself as the leading enabler of MVNOs in South Africa, supporting major banking, retail and digital brands through its platform. Our approach to MVNO partnerships is highly collaborative. Rather than simply providing wholesale access, we work closely with partners to design propositions that support their broader strategic objectives. Key commercial frameworks with MVNO partners were secured, creating shared value and supporting sustainable long-term growth.

Partnerships have been central to our capex-light business model since the strategy's outset, enabling the company to extend its reach, access specialised capabilities and deliver customer value more quickly and efficiently. As the company evolved, partnerships became an increasingly important mechanism for accelerating growth, improving customer outcomes and accessing opportunities that would have been more difficult or capital-intensive to pursue independently.

Through selected enterprise partnerships, Cell C broadened the solutions it could offer business customers, including connectivity, IoT and adjacent digital services, without needing to build or acquire these capabilities directly. This partner-led approach allowed the company to bring propositions to market more quickly and efficiently, while focusing its own investment on the areas where it can compete most effectively. Our MOCN capability further supports use cases where network redundancy and resilience are important, such as connected-fleet and IoT applications

The official launch of Cell C Business in January 2026 signalled our entry into a segment where we have historically had limited presence. It reflected a deliberate intent to broaden our participation in the business market, extending our proposition beyond mobile to include reliable connectivity and a wider suite of solutions.

Cell C expanded its retail footprint by entering Pepkor Lifestyle, the Pepkor Holdings portfolio of several well-known South African retail brands, and introducing its products to Incredible Connection, HiFi Corp and iStore. These introductions strengthen product visibility and access across key retail channels.

As partnership opportunities grew in scale and complexity, Cell C adopted a more structured and disciplined approach to partnership management, moving from ad hoc arrangements to repeatable, value-driven relationships. Standardised frameworks and stronger governance now enable us to identify, commercialise and scale partnerships more systematically as the strategy moves into its next phase.

Our approach to customer experience was grounded in a commitment to remove complexity from every customer interaction, making it easier for customers to engage with Cell C across both physical and digital channels.

In our retail channel, the store refresh programme, which commenced in August 2024 with the reopening of the Mall of Africa flagship store, has transformed our retail footprint with notable improvements in customer experience and dwell times. In parallel, the store franchising programme progressed steadily, and we aim to complete the transition to a franchise model in 2027. Franchising remains an effective mechanism for driving efficiencies and customer satisfaction by leveraging the energy, commitment and entrepreneurial focus of owner-operated businesses.

On digital channels, we focused on redeveloping and re-platforming the Cell C mobile app to establish it as the primary customer service channel. Through a human-centred design approach, purchase journeys were reimagined, a simplified product catalogue was introduced, and the checkout process was streamlined. This was supported by a robust payment architecture designed to enhance the overall customer experience. Significant improvements were made to the balances framework, offering customers a clear, at-a-glance view of their balances with fewer steps to complete a recharge.

In parallel, digital onboarding capabilities were successfully developed within a web application that now supports end-to-end eSIM purchases, full e-RICA journeys, and number-porting request submissions. This functionality has been extended to the mobile app and WhatsApp. We have noted a pleasing growth in the adoption of digital self-service channels. Cell C Rewards continued to gain traction, supporting higher incremental usage, including increased voice spend among previously low-usage customers.

A multi-year customer experience modernisation roadmap is underway to support AI-enabled marketing technology, develop a customer data platform to unify customer profiles and eliminate silos and enhance customer value management. The USSD modernisation programme is well advanced, with legacy menus migrated to a centralised platform to enable seamless changes and improve analytics.

Cell C's approach to rebuilding an infectious brand connection began inside the organisation, in the belief that a genuine, enduring brand is built by people who believe in it. Our employees are our most credible brand ambassadors, so re-establishing brand credibility began with our culture.

We focused on rebuilding culture, leadership stability and employee belief. This was formalised through our employee value proposition, “Our Unstoppable Way”, which established a shared culture built around clear behavioural pillars and our core values of transparency, honesty, integrity and simplicity. Supported by stable leadership and a values-led, performance-focused culture, this created a workforce that consistently lives the brand and delivers on its promise.

This internal foundation gave authenticity to our external brand turnaround. Launched in August 2024, the brand platform “Nothing should stop you” repositioned Cell C as a modern, customer-centric challenger, true to its heritage as a bold and spirited disrupter. Indicators of improved brand health include improved customer sentiment as measured by our NPS, increased customer advocacy on social media, and greater unprompted positive engagement.

Strategic sponsorship, including the Comrades Marathon title sponsorship and the long-standing Sharks and Rugby Legends partnerships, deepened emotional brand connection and positive brand association, while targeted campaigns addressed historical perceptions regarding Cell C's network quality and encouraged customers to “try before you buy.”