Capitec Connect, South Africa’s largest MVNO, is working to launch a post-paid offering by the end of the year as it moves aggressively to grow its market share.
Launched nearly three years ago by Capitec Bank, Capitec Connect is now South Africa’s largest mobile virtual network operator by subscribers – and CEO Dalene Steyn has told TechCentral that the MVNO is just getting started.
Speaking on an episode of TechCentral Show to be published later this week, Steyn said the company is looking to “challenge the post-paid market in South Africa” with the introduction of mobile phone contracts “with a twist”. And it will launch this post-paid offering by year-end.
“We actually want to see how we can challenge the contract/post-paid environment, where you have to sign up for 12-24 months. You are in this fixed contract and things might change on your side but then you’re locked in,” said Steyn. “We want to challenge that with a new, innovative product that we hope to release by the end of this year.”
Steyn did not give details about how Capitec Connect’s post-paid offering would work, although it is likely to be similar to the month-to-month plans some other MVNOs, including Melon Mobile, provide to consumers.
Capitec Connect has leveraged the trust built by Capitec Bank to attract customers to its mobile offering.
Steyn said Capitec can see when and how its banking customers buy airtime, giving insight into their needs and affordability. This knowledge will come in handy once Capitec Connect brings its post-paid offering to market, where client vetting is key to building a book of reliable, creditworthy customers.
Rewards
The link with the bank also helps both entities strengthen their value proposition, Steyn said. Behaviour like increased digital banking adoption is rewarded through data on Capitec Connect. “That’s definitely something you will see more of in the coming months,” she said.
Capitec Connect uses Cell C – South Africa’s leading mobile network for MVNOs – for infrastructure support. Steyn said the partnership with Cell C is direct, without any third-party mobile virtual network enablement partner involved. However, Capitec Connect has built is solutions in a modular way so that they can, in theory, integrate with other infrastructure partners should they choose to – though it has no immediate plans in this regard.
Read: Capitec is winning big in mobile
“You never know what the future brings, but currently it is a great partnership. Cell C is always willing to assist and come to the party regarding whatever ideas we have, so we are very happy with the relationship. They also value Capitec as a strategic partner,” said Steyn.
Capitec Connect had 1.6-million customers at the end of its financial year in February. Steyn said the MVNO aims to double that in the current financial year, or at least get “close to three million” subscribers. A post-paid offering is only one of many plans Capitec Connect has to grow its customer base, she said, without elaborating.
However, she said device financing options are going to form part of the post-paid offering.
“We have lots of new products we are going to launch towards the end of the year that we think will really increase those numbers,” said Steyn. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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