There is a certain irony in the fact that at the same time that our cellphone companies are announcing dramatic cuts to both their data and call rates in what appears to be a price war, we are also confronted by announcements on proposed tie-ups that, if concluded, will reduce competition in the sector. The irony is no coincidence. Cell C’s effort to win market
Browsing: Alan Knott-Craig
Vodacom has revealed that the Competition Commission has decided to investigate a complaint lodged by Cell C, in which the smaller mobile operator has accused its larger rival of abusing its dominance in contravention of the law. “The group received a complaint from the Competition Commission in which it is alleged that Vodacom
Third mobile operator Cell C intends investing R2,3bn in growing its national network in 2014, to address capacity problems and to cater for a fast expanding subscriber base. The operator said on Tuesday that it had 16,6m subscribers at the end of April, a sharp
Duncan McLeod and Regardt van der Berg are your hosts for this week’s episode of TalkCentral. In the show, they chat about South Africa’s first “social” election. Also in the podcast this week, your hosts discuss the resignation of Alan Knott-Craig as CEO of Cell C and chat about the prospects for the company. And Apple’s apparently
Alan Knott-Craig has stepped down as CEO of Cell C following the stroke he suffered in November last year. Jose Dos Santos, who had been running the company in an acting capacity in Knott-Craig’s absence, will take the reins at the company on a permanent basis with immediate effect. Knott-Craig is not lost to Cell C, however. In a
Should we be worried about Cell C? Despite a recent high court ruling that was at least partly in the mobile operator’s favour, noises coming out of the company aren’t exactly painting a rosy picture. There are several reasons for concern, chief among them the ability of the company to engage in a protracted price war while ensuring it
If there was anyone still doubting that the price war, triggered in part by communications regulator Icasa’s cuts in call termination rates, is starting to take its toll on South Africa’s mobile industry, they would have been disabused of that notion this week with the news that the Reunert-owned Nashua Mobile is to close down. As many as 600 people
Recent events are evidence of unprecedented pressure on mobile network operators to lower their prices. Yet a sober analysis reveals that the networks are really their own worst enemies, and can turn their fortunes around by simply lowering prices. The latest proposed cuts in the mobile termination (interconnection) rates are the most
It is no exaggeration to claim that the coming week will be make or break for affordable mobile communications in South Africa – quite possibly for the next 20 years. On 1 April 1994, Vodacom and MTN launched a service in South Africa, a launch brought forward to support the Independent Electoral Commission in managing the first
Cell C employees began moving into the company’s sprawling new campus, built at the confluence of the N1 and N3 freeways in Woodmead, near Midrand, at the end of last year. The 50 000sq m facility includes a main head office facility, a customer service centre, a new national network