Cell C migrating 1.1 million contract and broadband customers to Vodacom network
By Dineo Faku
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JOHANNESBURG - Cell C is in the process of migrating 1.1 million contract and broadband customers to the Vodacom network in line with the first phase of plans to become a significant wholesale buyer of network capacity and infrastructure services.
Cell C, which has roamed on MTN and Vodacom for some time and signed an extended roaming agreement with MTN in 2019, said yesterday that it would confirm migration of prepaid customers soon.
“The migration of the contract and broadband customers arises from Cell C’s network roaming agreement with Vodacom. Details of prepaid customer migration will be announced in due course,” Cell C said.
Why Cell C signed a new roaming deal with Vodacom
Cell C CEO Douglas Craigie Stevenson
There’s nothing unusual about Cell C’s decision to migrate its contract and mobile broadband customers to Vodacom’s radio access network – it’s all part the company’s new strategy.
That’s according to CEO Douglas Craigie Stevenson, who said in an exclusive interview with TechCentral on Thursday that the company plans to use
both the Vodacom
and MTN networks to provide cellular services to its customer base.
He confirmed that Cell C recently concluded an “expanded roaming agreement” with Vodacom. This deal was signed last month and comes after the company trumpeted a similar agreement earlier in 2020 with MTN, which many in the market had assumed was some sort of exclusive arrangement.
Cell C has started the process of migrating customers to its roaming partners’ cellphone tower infrastructure as it prepares to switch off its own radio access…
Image sourced from Town Press
Cell C has started migrating its customers to MTN’s cellphone tower infrastructure while it prepares to decommission its own towers.
“Our strategic vision is to differentiate ourselves by focusing on innovative products and services without being owners of capital-intensive infrastructure. This creates more flexibility and capacity to deliver the right quality of service to our current and future customers,” says Cell C CEO, Douglas Craigie Stevenson.
“Cell C is pioneering the evolution of the MNO space in South Africa by becoming a significant wholesale buyer of network capacity and infrastructure services. It is a win-win as the individual operators deliver segmental expertise to the benefit of everyone in the industry.”