Businesswoman Bathabile Moreki has thrown her hat into the competitive mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market, with the launch of TPC Africa Mobile, a new service aimed at independent business owners
Notable MVNOs operating in South Africa include Capitec, Standard Bank Mobile, Mr Price Mobile and Pick n Pay. They are typically nontelecom businesses that lease network infrastructure from mobile operators to sell data and voice services to their customers
The new company, which is using MTN as its network provider, is challenging traditional notions of how mobile products are distributed. Banks and retailers have done well as MVNOs by leveraging their large customer bases to market and distribute such an offering
Moreki is best known for founding The Perfume Co. Africa (TPC Africa) in 2021, which manufactures and sells oil-based fragrances and personal care goods through a direct-selling and multilevel marketing network
The network model means products are sold through 300,000 independent distributors across South Africa and neighbouring countries, rather than through traditional retail channels
Moreki plans to use that same network to distribute mobile products. This group of typically small business owners already make use of mobile products daily in the running of their operations — ordering stock, promoting products online and engaging with customers
These small business owners would become the anchor users of the network while using their various operations and reach to then bring in the consumer base
TPC Africa Mobile said its wider business network spans more than 300,000 independent business owners across the Southern African Development Community
The company notes this figure describes the broader business network. “It is not a count of TPC Africa Mobile subscribers or active mobile agents. The company has not published a separate number for entrepreneurs who will participate in the mobile service, projected subscribers, customer acquisition costs or revenue targets,” it said
South Africa’s MVNO market is expected to reach 10-million customers and has become more crowded after a requirement that mobile network operators host at least three MVNOs as part of their spectrum licence conditions from 2022
It makes sense that Moreki is so focused on distribution. South Africa has seen a number of MVNOs, including Lycamobile, Red Bull Mobile, Trace TV and Virgin Mobile, all launching and eventually failing
“Entrepreneurs depend on their phones to speak with customers, promote their work and manage everyday business,” Moreki said
“Taking TPC Africa into mobile is a way to extend our work into a service that people use every day while creating a new chapter for the business owners who have grown alongside us
“We will be judged by the service customers receive, the value they can see, and whether our business model creates practical opportunities for the people who work with us.”
For a number of years the largest MVNO player in South Africa was FNB. However, Capitec Connect has now emerged as the biggest with 1.8-million customers, relegating FNB Connect to second place. FNB has about 1-million SIM cards in the market and Standard Bank has 350,000