South Africa’s mobile industry may be issuing close to 200 million SIM cards every year, raising concerns about the environmental impact of discarded plastic cards and highlighting the growing shift towards eSIM technology.
The estimated annual volume is particularly notable given that South Africa has about 25 million economically active people.
FNB Connect CEO Sashin Sookroo told MyBroadband that publicly available estimates put annual SIM card issuance at between 120 million and 180 million, but he believed the actual figure was closer to 200 million.
The high number points to substantial churn in the mobile market, with physical SIM cards potentially becoming waste when customers change numbers, networks or devices.
FNB Connect has attempted to reduce the environmental impact of physical cards by using biodegradable plastic SIMs. Sookroo said this provides an alternative for customers who still need or prefer a physical SIM card.
The industry is also seeing increased adoption of embedded SIM technology, or eSIM, which allows compatible devices to use a digital SIM profile without requiring a removable plastic card.
Operators weigh the shift from physical SIMs
Sookroo said FNB Connect supports moving South Africa away from plastic SIM cards, although he stressed that the transition needs to be practical, secure and inclusive.
He said eSIM technology could make mobile services more accessible, provide customers with faster access and reduce the amount of physical SIM waste.
At FNB Connect, eSIMs already account for 30% of total SIM sales, according to Sookroo.
He added that the technology could also simplify customer onboarding for mobile network operators and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
The move away from physical SIM cards, however, is not expected to happen immediately across the industry.
Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes previously told MyBroadband that mobile operators had been reluctant to abandon physical SIMs partly because SIM issuance formed part of their key performance indicators in financial reporting.
Mendes said eliminating physical SIM cards could cause a significant decline in those indicators, potentially raising concerns among investors.
Sookroo said this was not an issue for FNB Connect, reiterating the company’s support for moving away from plastic SIMs.
Telkom has also expressed support for continued eSIM adoption but said the transition should be gradual and driven by customers.
The company said reducing reliance on physical SIM cards could provide environmental benefits, while maintaining that physical SIMs should remain available as the market transitions.
For consumers, eSIM technology can remove the need to obtain and physically insert a SIM card when activating mobile services, provided the handset and network support the technology.
FNB Connect surpasses one million active SIMs
The discussion around SIM cards comes as FNB Connect continues to expand its mobile and digital services.
FirstRand reported that FNB Connect facilitated transaction volumes of R26 billion in the financial year ended 30 June 2026, up from R22 billion a year earlier.
The group said the platform served approximately 3 million customers and recorded 14% revenue growth. Data usage increased by more than 85%, while average revenue per user rose by 8%.
More than one million people were using the FNB Connect MVNO service by the end of the financial year, while approximately 3.5 million customers used the broader FNB Connect platform.
The wider platform includes services such as airtime purchases across different networks, electricity token purchases and digital vouchers.
Sookroo said FNB Connect customers also received free WhatsApp data and calls to FNB call centres.
During the year, customers used more than 5.4 million gigabytes of WhatsApp data and made 4.4 million free calls to FNB call centres.
FNB also zero-rated USSD banking services, resulting in more than 805,000 free USSD interactions during the year.
Sookroo said the company’s data promotions had distributed more than 15 million gigabytes of data, helping make connectivity more accessible to customers.
With more than one million active FNB Connect SIMs at 30 June 2026, the promotional figure equates to roughly 15GB of data per active SIM if distributed evenly.
The figures point to a mobile market increasingly balancing physical connectivity products with digital alternatives, as operators consider both customer demand and the environmental cost of traditional SIM cards.