Singapore, South Africa — 17 October 2025 — Vodacom South Africa and global technology leader Circles, announces a strategic partnership to accelerate the growth of its Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) platform. The MVNE service is now primed to rapidly scale and onboard the next wave of MVNOs.
The collaboration with Circles for their Circles Aspire product line marks a pivotal leap forward in Vodacom’s wholesale services strategy. It opens up a game-changing alternative for South African MVNOs.
"We are very pleased to announce our partnership with Vodacom to power their MVNE platform services in South Africa. With the first MVNO customer, Mr Price Mobile, already live, this marks an important milestone," said Mehul Vora, VP of Sales for Circles Aspire.
"Vodacom already plays a pivotal ’telco of telcos’ role, and by integrating Circles’ proven MVNO enablement services, they can now deliver even greater value to the market. We look forward to jointly expanding this success in South Africa."
“We are excited to partner with Circles Aspire. This partnership re-affirms our long-term commitment to high quality, purpose driven, and value-creation led approach to the MVNO market in South Africa,” said Shenge Buthelezi, Managing Executive of Wholesale for Vodacom South Africa. “As we continue to scale up and onboard more partners, we are confident that our MVNE platform will enable a sustainable, seamless, digital-first, API driven and faster time to revenue service for our MVNOs which is critical for value creation and sustainability of the MVNO Market.”
Vodacom’s MVNO strategy is sharply focused on value creation, targeting three to five select MVNO partners over the next three years. These partners will bring deep domain expertise, amplified by Vodacom’s high-performance network and wholesale capabilities.
The Circles platform is built for agility. Its multi-tenant design and API-first integration enable swift onboarding and fast time-to-revenue. MVNO customers also gain access to Circles’ broader portfolio of products and advisory services. This includes its advanced Customer Value Management (CVM) offering, which emerges as a critical differentiator in South Africa’s highly competitive mobile landscape.
Circles’ cloud-native architecture and proven multi-country, multi-network infrastructure offer the flexibility and scale to unlock new opportunities wherever demand emerges.
This partnership also reaffirms Circles' long-term commitment to Africa. It is backed by continued investment in its EMEA team and a shared ambition to shape the future of mobile across the region.
About Vodacom
Vodacom is a leading and purpose-led African connectivity and financial services company. The Group, including Safaricom, serves 211 million customers spanning across the consumer and enterprise segments and offers a wide range of services, including: telecommunication, IT, digital and financial services.
For more information, visit www.vodacom.com
About Circles
Founded in 2014, Circles is a global technology company reimagining the telco industry with its innovative SaaS platform, empowering telco operators worldwide to effortlessly launch innovative digital brands or refresh existing ones, accelerating their transformation into techcos.
Today, Circles partners with leading telco operators across 14 countries and 6 continents, including KDDI Corporation, Etisalat Group (e&), AT&T, and Telkomsel, creating blueprints for future telco and digital experiences enjoyed by millions of consumers globally.
Circles is backed by renowned global investors, including Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia), Warburg Pincus, Founders Fund, and EDBI (the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board), with a track record of backing industry challengers.
For more information, visit www.circles.co.