brandZ | Vodacom

Parent Company: Vodacom Group Limited

Brand Value: $3,258 Mil.

Headquarter City: Johannesburg

Industry: Communication Providers

Year Formed: 1994

Vodacom is the leading cellular network in South Africa. Its diversified products include voice, messaging, data and converged services sold to over 41 million customers. Vodacom is the first African operator to extend 4G coverage to more than 80% of its population and 3G coverage to 99.4%. In 2017, the company added 4.5 million subscribers nudging up its African customer base to over 103 million. Its financial performance has been strong with 5.1% year over year growth boosted by strong device sales, service and data revenues, along with growth in its enterprise services. In 2018, the company increased its South African-based revenues by 4.9% to R54.6 billion and its operating profit by 3.1% to R20.9 billion while investing heavily in big data and machine learning to deliver personalized product offers. Vodacom recently partnered with GameMine in 2017 enabling Vodacom’s smartphones to access subscription-based mobile games, further differentiating itself with gaming platform for its customers.