Telkom has made a strong start to the financial year as its OneTelkom strategy and cost discipline initiatives continue to bear fruit.The group on Monday reported a 10% rise in group earnings before interest, tax, and depreciation (ebitda) to almost R3.1bn in the quarter ended June.Group revenue was up 2.6% to R11.1bn, while data revenue increased 8.8% to R6.9bn, contributing 62.4% to total revenue.Prepaid service revenue growth of 9.1% was the driver of a 6.4% increase in mobile service revenue.The group’s total mobile subscriber base increased by 6.1% to 25.3-million, underpinned by prepaid subscriber growth, while data subscribers grew 15.5% to 19.8-million.Telkom’s fibre connectivity rate rose to 53.9% as homes connected increased by 16.6% to 843,563.We mainly invested in our mobile business and Openserve, while a portion of the capex was directed towards IT solutions relating to the transformation programme for business support systems— Serame Taukobong, Telkom CEOCEO Serame Taukobong said the group has started the new financial year with strong data-led growth supported by mobile and Openserve. “BCX continued to experience revenue pressure, mainly as a result of a revenue decrease in converged communications as well as IT hardware and software sales. As expected, subdued performance in BCX remains, while the new management continues the reshaping of the business,” he said.In July Openserve launched its own internet service provider to monetise its existing infrastructure and improve the connectivity rate.Capital expenditure of R888m was 19.4% lower for the quarter, mainly due to the timing of multiyear projects in Openserve, as the first quarter included a higher level of network project completions and associated capital recognition. “We mainly invested in our mobile business and Openserve, while a portion of the capex was directed towards IT solutions relating to the transformation programme for business support systems,” Taukobong said. The group invested R421m in the mobile business to expand network capacity and upgrade base stations. As a result, 84 sites were added during the quarter, increasing the network footprint of mobile to 8,504 base stations. Openserve invested R379m in capex in the quarter to modernise and expand its network, passing 26,541 homes and connecting 26,023 for the quarter.“As we pursue our priorities of growth and improving efficiencies, our data-led strategy will continue to drive expansion, while cost optimisation initiatives remain a key focus,” he said.“The drive for prepaid growth will continue in the mobile business, coupled with advancing the execution of our countrywide regional strategy in gaining share in underindexed and underserved regions.”Service revenue is expected to grow in mid-single digits, potentially trending above the upper end of the range, the group said.He added that the BCX turnaround requires time, and the new leadership has started repositioning and reassessing the IT product portfolio to ensure that focus remains on scalable, high-margin offerings. Priorities include completing modernisation initiatives and enhancing cloud, data and AI capabilities to support customer digital transformation requirements. Business Day