Cell C is interested in reaching a deal soon to allow its customers to roam not only on Vodacom’s 2G and 3G networks — as they do now when they are outside the bigger towns and metropolitan areas — but also on its competitor’s 4G/LTE infrastructure.
And a deal between the parties looks entirely likely, with Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub telling TechCentral on Wednesday: “Cell C is a very important customer to Vodacom and as such, Vodacom will consider all requests to negotiate on its roaming agreements.”
Cell C has roamed on Vodacom’s network since its inception in 2001, first on its 2G and later its 3G infrastructure. But the roaming deal has never been extended to include 4G. However, Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos told TechCentral on Tuesday that the company is interested in expanding its roaming agreement to “4G and other technologies” and has approached Vodacom in this regard.
It’s part of a broader plan to ensure Cell C customers have seamless handover between towers and quality of service to ensure customers have the same experience whichever network they’re using, its own or roaming onto Vodacom’s.
Cell C has focused its capital expenditure on urban areas, choosing to leverage its roaming agreement with Vodacom outside the cities where it’s coverage is not as good. This has allowed it to build a powerful network that, it claims, rivals the best in the urban centres, despite spending only a third of its bigger rivals on infrastructure.
A 4G roaming deal with Vodacom would be a boon for Cell C customers given that Vodacom has South Africa’s most extensive LTE coverage. Vodacom claimed this week to have reached 70% population coverage with the technology.
Assuming a deal is reached between Cell C and Vodacom, it will be the first time a mobile operator has signed a 4G roaming agreement with a rival in South Africa.
Telkom customers roam on MTN’s network infrastructure outside the cities, but this agreement is limited to 2G and 3G connectivity.
A Telkom spokesman could not immediately be reached to comment on whether the parties would also seek to expand their agreement to include roaming on MTN’s 4G network. — © 2017 NewsCentral Media
