[10 November 2025]
ICASA Begins Data Collection for 2025 State of the ICT Sector Report
ICASA has initiated the data collection process for the 2025 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will cover the period from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025.
Action Required: Licensee Submission
Licensees must complete the required questionnaire and submit their responses by Friday, 28 November 2025, to the following email address:
- Email: ictindicators@icasa.org.za
Project Timelines
| Date Range | Activity |
| 7 November – 28 November 2025 | Questionnaire completion by the industry (Licensees’ submission window) |
| 1 December – 16 January 2026 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 19 January – 31 March 2026 | Analysis of data, development, and publication of the final report by ICASA |
Queries and Contact Information
Please direct any questions regarding the submission to the ICASA statisticians:
- Mr. Vincent Nesengani (Lead Statistician): 012 568 3687 / VNesengani@icasa.org.za
- Mr. Kenny Mphahlele: 012 568 3972 / KMphahlele@icasa.org.za
Letter to Stakeholders State of the ICT Sector Questionnaire Statistics 2025
ICASA Indicators Telecommunication Licensee Questionnaire 2025
[5 November 2024]
ICASA has commenced data collection for its 2024 State of the ICT Sector Report, encompassing the period from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024.
ICASA Indicators Telecommunication Licensee Questionnaire 2024
Letter to Stakeholders State of the ICT Sector Questionnaire Statistics 2024
The timelines involved are as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 4 November – 29 November 2024 | Questionnaire completed by industry |
| 2 December 2024 – 17 January 2025 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 20 January – 31 March 2025 | Analysis of data, development and publication of State of ICT Sector report by ICASA |
The deadline for licensees and resellers to submit their responses is November 29, 2024. Send them to ictindicators@icasa.org.za. For questions, contact Mr. Vincent Nesengani (vnesengani@icasa.org.za / 012 568 3687) or Mr. Kenny Mphahlele (kmphahlele@icasa.org.za / 012 568 3972).
[7 November 2023]
ICASA has begun collecting data for the 2023 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will cover the period from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023. The key timelines are as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 6 November – 30 November 2023 | Questionnaire completed by industry |
| 1 December – 19 January 2024 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 22 January – 29 March 2024 | Analysis of data, development and publication of State of ICT Sector report by ICASA |
Licensees and resellers must submit their responses by 30 November 2023 to ictindicators@icasa.org.za.
For any queries, please contact Mr. Vincent Nesengani at vnesengani@icasa.org.za or 012 568 3687, or Mr. Kenny Mphahlele at kmphahlele@icasa.org.za or 012 568 3972.
ICT Questionnaire 2023 – Letter to Stakeholders
[28 July 2023]
ICASA has released its seventh annual State of the ICT Sector Report, which covers the period ending 30 September 2022. The report is available for viewing at the following link:
State of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector report in South Africa 2023
[3 November 2022]
ICASA has begun collecting data for the 2022 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will span from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022. The key timelines for this process are as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 04 November 2022 – 30 November 2022 | Questionnaire completed by industry |
| 01 December 2022 – 20 January 2023 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 23 January 2023 – 31 March 2023 | Analysis of data, development and publication of State of ICT Sector report by ICASA |
Licensees and resellers must submit their responses by 30 November 2022 to ictindicators@icasa.org.za.
For any queries, please contact Mr. Vincent Nesengani at vnesengani@icasa.org.za or 012 568 3687, or Mr. Kenny Mphahlele at kmphahlele@icasa.org.za or 012 568 3972.
ICT Questionnaire 2022 – Letter to Stakeholders
[29 June 2022]
ICASA has released its seventh annual State of the ICT Sector Report, covering the 12-month period ending September 30, 2021. The report is available for viewing at the link below:
State of Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector report in South Africa 2022
[6 October 2021]
ICASA has begun gathering data for the 2021 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will cover the period from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. The timeline for this process is as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 07 October 2021 – 30 November 2021 | Questionnaire completed by industry |
| 01 December 2021 – 21 January 2022 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 22 January 2022 – 31 March 2022 | Analysis of data, development and publication of State of ICT Sector report by ICASA |
Licensees and resellers must submit their responses by 30 November 2021 to ictindicators@icasa.org.za.
For any inquiries, please contact Mr. Vincent Nesengani at vnesengani@icasa.org.za or 012 568 3687, or Mr. Kenny Mphahlele at kmphahlele@icasa.org.za or 012 568 3972.
ICT Questionnaire 2021
ICT Questionnaire 2021 – Letter to Stakeholders
[9 April 2021]
ICASA has released its sixth annual State of the ICT Sector Report, covering the 12-month period ending 30 September 2020. The report is available for viewing at the link below:
The State of the ICT Sector Report in South Africa 2021
[19 October 2020]
ICASA has begun gathering data for the 2020 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will cover the period from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020. The key timelines for this process are as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 12 October 2019 – 30 November 2020 | Questionnaire completed by industry |
| 01 December 2020 – 15 January 2021 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 31 March 2021 | Publishing of report by ICASA |
Please submit the completed questionnaire by 30 November 2020 to ictindicators@icasa.org.za.
[31 March 2020]
ICASA has released its fifth annual State of the ICT Sector Report, which encompasses the 12-month period ending on 30 September 2019. The report is available for viewing via the link below:
ICASA’s report on the state of ICT sector in SA – March 2020
The report concludes with the following highlights for the telecommunications, broadcasting, and postal services sectors:
- The combined revenue for these sectors increased by 4%, rising from R229 billion in 2018 to R238 billion in 2019. Specifically, telecommunications revenue grew by 3.6%, from R187 billion to R194 billion, broadcasting revenue rose by 3.8%, from R36 billion to R38 billion, and postal services revenue saw a substantial increase of 19.9%, from R4.7 billion to R5.7 billion.
- Overall employment across the three sectors decreased by 8.2% in 2019. Within this period, employment in telecommunications fell by 8.9%, in postal services by 7.1%, and in broadcasting by 7.3%.
Telecommunications sector highlights:
- Employment in the telecommunications sector, categorized by gender, skills, and disabilities, showed that there were 23,334 skilled employees, 2,863 semi-skilled, 558 unskilled, and 354 employees with disabilities in 2019.
- Total telecommunications investment decreased by 17.1%, from R46 billion in 2018 to R38 billion in 2019.
- As of September 2019, urban areas had 77 million prepaid mobile subscriptions, 13 million post-paid subscriptions, rural areas had 4.8 million prepaid subscriptions, and over 885,000 post-paid subscriptions.
- National 3G coverage increased from 99.5% in 2018 to 99.7% in 2019, while 4G/LTE coverage rose from 85.7% in 2018 to 92.8% in 2019.
[27 September 2019]
ICASA has begun collecting data for the 2019 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will cover the period from October 1, 2018, to September 30, 2019. The schedule for this process is as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 25 September – 29 November 2019 | Questionnaire completed by the industry |
| 2 December – 17 January 2020 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 31 March 2020 | Publishing of report by ICASA |
Licensees must submit their responses by 29 November 2019 to ictindicators@icasa.org.za. For any queries, please contact Mr. Vincent Nesengani, Lead Statistician, at vnesengani@icasa.org.za or 012 568 3687.
ICT Questionnaire 2019 – Letter to Stakeholders
[26 March 2019]
ICASA has released its fourth annual State of the ICT Sector Report, covering the year ending September 30, 2018. You can view the report at the link below:
ICASA’s report on the state of ICT sector in SA – March 2019
The report concludes with the following highlights:
- Revenue across the telecommunications, broadcasting, and postal sectors grew by 12.2% in 2018, rising from R204 billion to R229 billion.
- The telecommunications sector saw a revenue increase of 14.4%, reaching R187 billion. Broadcasting revenue grew by 3.7% to R36 billion, while the postal sector experienced a slight decline of 0.1%.
- Employment across the three sectors rose by 18.8%, from 51,993 in 2017 to 61,757 in 2018. Specifically, employment in telecommunications increased by 20%, in the postal sector by 21.9%, and in broadcasting by 0.3%.
- Prepaid mobile data revenue grew by 8.5%, but prepaid revenue from mobile voice and messaging decreased by 2.9% and 22.4%, respectively.
- Total telecommunication investment fell by 1.5% in 2018.
- National 3G coverage remained stable at 99%, while 4G/LTE coverage increased from 76.7% in 2017 to 85.7% in 2018.
- Smartphone penetration reached 81.72% in 2018.
- There were 12,644,364 LTE device subscribers nationally, with Gauteng having the highest number at 4,304,758 and Northern Cape the lowest at 220,700.
- The number of Pay TV subscribers increased by 8.7%, rising from over 6 million in 2017 to just above 7 million in 2018.
- The number of set-top boxes and content distributors grew by 39.5% and 60.5%, respectively, while the number of analogue terrestrial stations decreased by 74.1%.
- In 2018, local independent producers produced 1,022 items, international independent producers 296, and broadcasters 414.
- After a sharp 9.2% decline to just over R4.8 billion in 2016, postal sector revenue has stabilized at just below that level for both 2017 and 2018.
[16 November 2018]
ICASA has reminded stakeholders that the deadline for submitting the State of the ICT Sector Questionnaire is 30 November 2018.
ICASA ICT Sector Report Reminder
[28 September 2018]
ICASA has begun gathering data for the 2018 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will encompass the period from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018. The key timelines are as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 28 September – 30 November 2018 | Questionnaire completed by the industry |
| 3 December – 14 January 2019 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 29 March 2019 | Publishing of report by ICASA |
ICT Questionnaire 2018 – Letter to Stakeholders
[28 March 2018]
ICASA has released its third annual State of the ICT Sector Report, which examines the 12-month period ending September 30, 2017. You can view the report at the following link:
ICASA Report on State of SA ICT Sector 2018
The report concludes with the following:
The following highlights are worth noting:
- The high response rate for 2017 has not affected the increase in figures, for example, leading companies’ contribution to revenue in both 2016 and 2017 was 99% and 97%, respectively. Leading companies’ investment spend made up 100% and 94% in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
- The total revenue reported for the three sectors that ICASA regulates increased by 9.1% in 2017 (it increased by 3.5% in 2016).
- Telecommunications and broadcasting revenue increased by 10.2% and 5.8% in 2017, respectively. However, postal revenue decreased by 0.6%.
- Total number of Pay TV subscriptions increased by 21.2% in 2017.
- Total number of employees for the three sectors that ICASA regulates decreased significantly by 14.4% in 2017.
- The population coverage of 4G/LTE services significantly increased from 75% in 2016 to 77% in 2017.
- South Africa’s overall 2017 ranking on the International Telecommunication Union’s (“ITU”) ICT Development Index (“IDI”) has decreased to position 92.
- Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people increased to 88% in 2016.
- Procurement spend from all suppliers based on the B-BBEE Procurement Recognition Levels contribution was 100.0% in 2016 and 61.5% in 2017 in the postal service sector.
[9 October 2017]
ICASA has begun collecting data for the 2017 State of the ICT Sector Report, which will span from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017. The key timelines for this process are as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 6 October 2016 – 30 November 2017 | Questionnaire completed by the industry |
| 1 December 2017 – 15 January 2018 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 31 March 2018 | Publishing of report by ICASA |
[8 May 2017]
ICASA has released the second annual State of the ICT Sector Report, which encompasses the period from October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016. You can view the report using the link below:
ICASA Report on State of SA ICT Sector 2017
The report concludes with the following:
The following highlights are worth noting:
- The total revenue reported for the three sectors that ICASA regulates has increased by 3.5% compared to 2015.
- Total number of employees for the three sectors that ICASA regulates decreased significantly by 13.0% since the last report. The drop in numbers was experienced by all three sectors.
- The revenue from telecommunication services increased slightly by 1% in 2016, with the main contributor to this increase being mobile services with an increase of 4.3%. In addition, revenue from fixed line voice and fixed internet services decreased significantly by 13.1% and 7.5%, respectively.
- Mobile data revenue for the 12-month period ending 30 September 2016 increased significantly by 25.4%, while mobile voice revenue decreased by 5.9%.
- The population coverage of 4G/LTE services significantly increased by 26%.
- Mobile data traffic increased significantly by 55.0%.
- South Africa moved up 10 places on its ranking on the Network Readiness Index (NRI) to number 65.
- Mobile broadband connections (subscriptions) per 100 people increased by 10% in 2016.
Please note that the 2017 report includes 15 fewer ECS and ECNS licensee respondents compared to the 2016 report. This should be considered when evaluating some of the figures.
For any questions regarding the report, please contact Mr. Kenny Mphahlele, Senior Manager for Sector Forecasting, via email at kmphahlele@icasa.org.za or by phone at 011 566 3972.
[1 November 2016]
ICASA has extended the submission deadline by one week to November 7, 2016.
[20 October 2016]
ICASA has revised the questionnaire following a submission regarding the omission of pricing indicators.
ICT Sector Questionnaire (updated)
The timeline remains as outlined in the post from September 20, shown below:
[20 September 2016]
ICASA has begun collecting data for the second annual State of the ICT Sector Report, which will encompass the period from October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016. The relevant timelines are as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| 20 September – 30 September 2016 | Questionnaire reviews by the industry |
| 7 October – 31 October 2016 | Questionnaire completion by the industry |
| 1 November – 15 December 2016 | Data validation by ICASA |
| 31 March 2017 | Publish Report |
The Authority asks that any comments or questions regarding the questionnaire be sent to Mr. Kenny Mphahlele via email at KMphahlele@icasa.org.za by September 30, 2016.
[5 April 2016]
ICASA has released its inaugural report on the state of the ICT sector in South Africa, covering the year up to the end of September 2015.
ICASA Report on State of SA ICT Sector 2016
ICASA highlighted the following valuable findings:
- The telecommunications sector generated approximately R147 billion in revenue, the TV broadcasting sector around R28 billion, and the SA Post Office (reserved postal services) about R5 billion.
- Together, the telecommunications sector, TV broadcasting sector, and the SA Post Office employ around 58,000 people, with a gender split of 23,000 females to 35,000 males.
- The telecommunications sector is the largest employer, followed by the TV broadcasting sector and the SA Post Office.
- Telecommunications investment totaled about R23 billion, with mobile communication services contributing R16 billion.
- South Africa has approximately 86 million mobile cellular subscriptions, consisting of 72 million prepaid and 14 million postpaid subscriptions.
[2 October 2015]
ICASA has initiated a new effort to establish the necessary structures and processes for collecting ICT sector statistics. The existing gaps in gathering this information pose challenges for decision-making and put South Africa at risk of breaching its obligations as a member of the ITU. ICASA aims to design and implement a comprehensive ICT sector data collection system to replace the multiple reporting requirements currently imposed on licensees.
To support this initiative, ICASA has appointed the research firm BMI-T, significantly enhancing the likelihood of the project’s success.
The following presentation was provided during the launch of this initiative at ICASA’s Head Office on September 29, 2015.
See also: