Over 74.7% of Internet traffic generated on the African continent originates from South Africa.[2] In January 2025, there were 50.8 million internet users in South Africa, constituting 78.9% of the population.[3]
Fibre-to-the-premises (for residential and commercial users) is common throughout major metropolitan areas in the country. There are 4 major fibre network operators (FNOs) in SA, via which dozens of ISPs offer a wide variety of uncapped internet packages, with speeds ranging from 50 Mbps on the low end to 1 Gbps at the top end.
Satellite internet is an option for those residing in more rural areas. Streaming services are commonly used for content, many companies use the internet to conduct business (or work on an entirely remote basis), and the internet service provider (ISP) landscape is highly competitive, which keeps prices low.
The country has 4 major cellular providers, as well as numerous MVNOs. 5G mobile connectivity is present across South Africa, and continually expanding.
On 12 November 1991, the first IP connection was made between Rhodes' computing centre and Bush in Oregon.[6] By November 1991, South African universities were connected through UNINET to the Internet. Commercial Internet access for businesses and private use began in June 1992[7] with the registration of the first .co.za subdomain.
The African National Congress, South Africa's governing political party at the time, registered its website (anc.org.za) in 1997, and later changed it to anc1912.org.za, making it one of the first African political organizations to establish an Internet presence; around the same time, the Freedom Front Plus (Afrikaans: Vryheidsfront Plus)[8] registered vryheidsfront.co.za.[9]
The dial-up era
Dial-up internet used to be offered by Telkom, which, until 2024, was a state-owned enterprise, given that the majority shareholder was the Government of South Africa. As a result, for many years, Telkom had a monopoly on fixed-line internet across the entire country. Development was slow and infrastructure maintenance was poor.
The ADSL and broadband era
The first true ADSL solution for consumers launched in 2001, and was branded "Turbo Access".[10] The service was a tender awarded to Africa Data Holdings. Solutions ranged from a basic rate line (2 x 64-kbit/s B channels and one 16-kbit/s D channel). Most home users had a 64kbit/s Internet connection, utilising the second B Channel for telephony. Larger businesses took advantage of a primary rate ISDN (The T1 line consists of 23 bearer (B) channels and one data (D) channel for control purposes) for common needs, like switchboards and fax solutions.
The ISDN Terminal Adapters[11] were all supplied by Eicon Networks Corporation, which was later bought by Dialogic Corp. This was the very first introduction of "Broadband" into South Africa, and a platform for growth. Utilising ISDN, WAN Africa Data Holdings[12] (later dissolved into the Converge Group) introduced many (at the time) revolutionary solutions like fax; Unified Messaging (email, fax, voicemail); Remote Access Service (RAS); and Voice over IP.
In 2006, the Government of South Africa began prohibiting sites hosted in the country from displaying X18 (explicitly sexual) and XXX content (including child pornography and depictions of violent sexual acts); site owners who refuse to comply are punishable under the Film and Publications Act.[13]
Under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 (ECTA), ISPs are required to respond to and implement take-down notices regarding illegal content such as child pornography, defamatory material, and copyright violations. Members of the Internet Service Providers Association are not liable for third-party content they do not create or select, however, they can lose this protection from liability if they do not respond to take-down requests. ISPs often err on the side of caution by taking down content to avoid litigation since there is no incentive for providers to defend the rights of the original content creator, even if they believe the take-down notice was requested in bad faith. There is no existing appeal mechanism for content creators or providers.[14]
Also in 2007, Broadband Infraco (BBI) was established through the Broadband Infraco Act No.33, of 2007, passed by the South African Parliament. Its main goal was to ensure that all communities in South Africa were connected to the internet, with a specific focus on underserved areas.[15]
South Africa's total international bandwidth reached the 10Gbit/s mark during 2008, and its continued increase is being driven primarily by the uptake of broadband and lowering of tariffs. Three new submarine cable projects have brought more capacity to South Africa from 2009—the SEACOM cable entered service in June 2009, the EASSy cable in July 2010, and the WACS cable in May 2012. Additional international cable systems have been proposed or are under construction (for details see active and proposed cable systems below).[citation needed]
In August 2009, ADSL broadband prices began to drop significantly when major South African ISP Afrihost entered the market with packages priced as low as R29 ($1.96) per gigabyte, resulting in other ISPs lowering their prices.[16] Since then, thanks to more ISPs entering the market, the price for data has decreased – in February 2014, Webafrica started offering ADSL from R1.50 ($0.1) per GB.
In late 2009, Telkom began trialling 8 and 12Mbit/s ADSL offerings.[17] In August 2010, Telkom officially introduced ADSL at 10Mbit/s. More than 20,000 4Mbit/s subscribers were upgraded free of charge. As of October 2018, fixed line DSL speeds on offer ranged between 2Mbit/s to 40Mbit/s.[18][19]
In 2012, there were 1.1 million fixed line broadband subscribers[20] and 12.7 million wireless broadband subscribers.[21]
In 2013, the South African Parliament approved SA Connect, the implementation of the country's national broadband policy. Its goal was to ensure broadband connectivity at all 6,135 government facilities, including schools, health facilities, post offices, police stations, and government offices, in the eight rural district municipalities. It also sought to ensure some level of connectivity in all South African communities, with a particular focus on underserved areas.[22]
The rollout is being administered by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and Broadband Infraco (BBI), the latter of which is a Tier 1 financer of the WACS African undersea cable system.[22]
In 2022, Phase 2 of SA Connect was approved, with a target of 100% connectivity at the end of the 2026 fiscal year. In 2024, connectivity stood at 78.9%.[22]
The fibre era
In March 2022, then-Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, published the government's National Infrastructure Plan 2050. In it, the government set a goal of providing all households in South Africa with a minimum of 50GB of free data per month by the end of the 2025/26 South African financial year (February 2026). No income limitations would be placed on the provision, so all households will be eligible.[23]
Then-Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said at the time that data had become a new utility, like water and electricity, and was a necessity for all households. A request for a broadband fund was made to the National Treasury. The same funds will also be used for free data provisions to public Wi-Fi hotspots, specifically for low-income households, and in rural communities across SA.[23]
In October 2025, it was announced that Fibertime, a local low-cost FNO and ISP, had connected 200,000 houses to its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service. Fibertime is focused on the lower-income market, and plans to reach 1.8 million houses by April 2028. The company offered a fibre product for as little as R35 a week (equating to R5 a day).[24]
At the time, multiple other FNOs had also connected low-income homes, including Wire-Wire, Ilitha Telecoms, Zing Fibre, and Vumatel. In the same month, having connected 30,000 low-income homes thus far, Vumatel offered its Vuma Key product at R99 per month, making it the cheapest monthly fibre product in South Africa at the time.[24]
On 2 October 2025, the South African government launched the Broadband Infraco Modernised National Broadband Backbone. The modernized backbone is an upgraded, open-access fibre optic network, with the goal of providing faster, more resilient long-distance connectivity across South Africa, and into neighboring countries. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi said the launch would provide a foundation for e-learning, fintech, AI, and e-government. The backbone serves to position South Africa as the tech hub of Africa, give SMMEs a platform to thrive, and ensure every learner and entrepreneur can connect reliably.[25]
The infrastructure serves as the backbone for national and municipal broadband access, aimed at closing the digital divide, stimulating innovation, and enabling economic growth and job creation.[25]
At the time of the launch, it was providing connectivity to 1.8 million households and supported 79 ISPs. Malatsi confirmed that SA Connect had received R710 million over the medium term to drive its expansion. Between April 2023 and March 2025, Broadband Infraco connected 3,401 public Wi-Fi hotspots. Malatsi also confirmed that the program had made significant progress over the preceding 2 years, and that it was expected to reach 5.5 million households by the end of 2026.[25]
Fibre infrastructure
South Africa has extensive fibre coverage across its major cities. There are over 15 fibre networks in South Africa, of various sizes. Pricing is not standardized across all networks for the same speeds, and often is not pressured to be, as fibre network operators (FNOs) have exclusive use rights for many neighborhoods, according to permits granted by municipalities.
However, there are many fibre ISPs offering competing packages on those fibre networks, and prices have therefore decreased substantially over a short period of time.[26]
Minimum speeds have increased significantly since South Africa's main fibre roll-out, with many providers now starting packages at 50 Mbps.
Different FNOs have different areas of focus. For instance, Dark Fibre Africa (based in Sandton) focuses on enterprise connectivity across major metropolitan areas, with its 14,000+ kilometer network.[27]
On the other hand, Liquid Intelligent Technologies (headquartered in Cape Town) has Africa's largest independent fibre network, which connects a significant number of African and European countries. The company's network, especially prevalent in Southern and Central Africa, spans over 110,000 kilometers.[28]
Residential fibre continues to expand rapidly. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the number of homes passed by a group of the largest FNOs in South Africa increased by 6%, and the number of active connections or homes ready to go live increased by 19%.[29]
As of 2025, deployed fibre technology to residential properties in South Africa amongst the country's largest fibre network operators passes around 5.5 million homes. The two largest FNOs are Vumatel, which passes around 2.6 million homes (when including subsidiary Herotel), and Openserve, which passes around 1.3 million homes.[30] Aside from major players in the table below, as of 2025, there are at least 651,000 homes passed by a combination of other FNOs, bringing the total residential fibre network in South Africa up to around 6.1 million.[29]
The extent of major fibre networks in South Africa, as of April 2025, is in the table below.[29]
South Africa has four major cellular providers; Vodacom, Cell C, Telkom, and MTN, all of which are headquartered in the country and have invested heavily in signal infrastructure across SA. Numerous MVNOs operate via the major four networks, including Rain, Mr Price Mobile, Standard Bank Connect, PnP Mobile, Purple Mobile, FNB Connect, and Melon.[31]
The four major providers have continually upgraded their networks as new technologies have launched, shifting from their original 1G and 2G networks towards newer standards. Approximately 99.7% of South Africans have 3G coverage, and around 86% have 4G.
In recent years, 5G rollout has been underway across South Africa, especially in major metropolitan areas. At the end of 2024, around 50% of South Africans had 5G connectivity, with a total of 73% of individuals expected to have access by 2029.[32]
Internet hotspots are ubiquitous in locations such as coffeehouses, supermarkets, shopping centers, hotels, and at tourist attractions. Many hotspots offer internet usage free of charge, though some require registering for an account first.
Mobile subscriber figures
Subscriber information for South Africa's major mobile network providers, as of June 2024, is in the table below.[33]
* Figure is larger than the population of South Africa, as individuals are able to have multiple subscriptions with one provider, and subscriptions with different providers simultaneously
With 43.8% market share, Vodacom is the largest mobile network provider by a large margin. It is close to becoming what the South African Competition Commission classes as a "dominant" player (which would occur at 45% market share).[34]
Under the Competition Act No 89, of 1998, a firm is considered "dominant if it has a market share of 45% or has market power, i.e. the ability to control prices, exclude competition or act independently from competitors, customers or suppliers". According to the Commission, being dominant is not in and of itself an issue, however abusing a dominant position is.[34]
Public Wi-Fi
In recent years, certain major cities, such as Cape Town, have been rolling out free, public Wi-Fi. This service is provided by municipally-installed hotspots in locations across the city.[35]
The national government also provides thousands of free public Wi-Fi hotspots across South Africa, via Broadband Infraco installations.[25]
Streaming media
Streaming services are a popular means of enjoying content in South Africa, and the uptake of such services on a subscription basis has grown in recent years. As of October 2025, South Africans are able to use, among others, the following local and foreign streaming services:
Internet connectivity is common throughout South Africa, and especially in its major cities. The Internet user base in South Africa has increased rapidly in recent years (especially during the decade from 2010 through 2020), from 2.4 million (5.35% of the population) in 2000,[36][37] to 12.3 million (41%) in 2012,[38] and then to 50.8 million (78.9%) in 2025.[3]
Bar chart showing South African internet usage by year
Percentage of the South African population using the internet, by year[39]
Year
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
%
5.35
6.35
6.71
7.01
8.43
7.49
7.61
8.07
8.43
10.00
24.00
33.97
41.00
46.50
49.00
51.92
54.00
56.17
62.40
69.70
72.10
75.00
75.50
75.70
Undersea Fibre Cables
Undersea fibre optic cables land at multiple points in South Africa, including Cape Town, Melkbosstrand, Duynefontein, Yzerfontein, Gqeberha, Mtunzini, Umbogintwini, and East London.
The country has numerous active cables connecting it to other continents (directly, and via other countries), as well as multiple planned undersea fibre cables in various stages of development.
Map of active and planned African undersea fibre optic cables, as of September 2025
The South African National Research and Education Network (SANReN) provides dedicated bandwidth capacity to more than a 100 university campuses, research institutes, museums and scientific organisations in South Africa. This is the foundation for collaborative research with academics and scientists on the African continent and across continents.
SANReN enables the participation of South African scientists and postgraduate students in global research, such as the high energy physics ATLAS experiment hosted at CERN in Geneva, and will enable global access to the Square Kilometre Array radio astronomy project co-hosted in South Africa and Australia.
Digital media freedom is respected in South Africa. Political content is not censored in any way, and journalists, bloggers, and other forms of content creators are not targeted for their online activities, and are free to post their views online (as long as they are not tantamount to hate speech). In 2013, Freedom House rated South Africa's "Internet Freedom Status" as "Free".[14]
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