Telkom puts voice back at the centre of its data strategy

By Tsaone Segaetsho

Telkom is sharpening its prepaid offering with a new push around voice bundles under its “Data Talks” campaign, seeking to give customers more flexibility as the boundary between traditional voice calls and data-based communication continues to blur.

The campaign positions connectivity as more than simply having gigabytes available for browsing, with Telkom combining data-led services with voice benefits aimed at customers who still rely on conventional calls.

Telkom’s current prepaid portfolio includes all-network voice bundles ranging from 10 to 1,000 minutes, while its WhatsApp-plus-voice products combine messaging, voice and video calling with all-network minutes. The latter are available across daily, weekly and monthly validity periods.

The strategy comes as South Africa’s mobile market becomes increasingly competitive, with operators under pressure to offer customers more value while protecting revenue from traditional voice services.

For Telkom, the “Data Talks” proposition is therefore less about treating voice and data as separate products and more about presenting connectivity as a single service — whether customers are making a conventional call, sending a WhatsApp message or making an internet-based voice or video call.

The company’s broader prepaid portfolio continues to span short-term and longer-duration data products, giving customers the option to match bundles to their usage patterns.

The new voice push could help Telkom strengthen its position among price-conscious prepaid users, particularly those looking for predictable spending and all-network connectivity.

Exact launch prices and minute allocations should be inserted from Telkom’s campaign tariff sheet before publication.