Telkom will take the wraps off its new mobile telecommunications network in just three weeks from now, on 14 October, and in the process launch SA’s fourth cellular operator. That’s the obvious conclusion to be drawn from an invitation that the JSE-listed telecoms group issued on Tuesday, in which it has invited media and VIPs to an event at Lanseria airport, north of Johannesburg.
Cell C will launch its new high-speed 3G network in Cape Town on Thursday, a city that has proved notoriously hard for operators to deliver wireless services. At the same time, Cell C is launching its so-called “4Gs” network in coastal city East London today (Tuesday), following the company’s introduction of broadband services in Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein.
Falling mobile termination rates and slow recovery of the economy are dampening the growth of SA’s telecommunications market. That’s according to a new report from BMI-TechKnowledge (BMI-T). The report forecasts that the industry will grow only 5% over the next five years, with most of that growth coming from data services.
Cell C’s third-generation (3G) cellular network went live in Bloemfontein today, making the city the second in SA to benefit from the operator’s 3G offering. Bloemfontein residents hoping to start using the network will have to wait until Friday, which is when the modems will become available.
Mobile operator Cell C has made a further move to restructure its crippling debt. The company, which accrued the debt rolling out its second-generation voice network over the past decade, said on Friday it had offered to purchase for cash its outstanding €400m “first priority senior secured notes” due 2012.
Events conspired against us and we missed last week’s TalkCentral recording. But we’re back with a bumper episode 9 of SA’s business technology podcast, and there’s plenty to talk about. Your hosts, Duncan McLeod and Candice Jones, delve in detail into Cell C’s launch of its broadband wireless network and look at how it’s taking the fight to bigger rivals MTN and Vodacom.
MTN and Telkom, which recently signed a cellular roaming agreement, are facing off in a dispute over wholesale mobile termination rates. Telkom, which is due to launch its own mobile network within the next couple of months, wants to charge MTN — and presumably other operators — 93c/minute to carry calls onto its new network.
South Africans are a cynical lot. When it comes to telecommunications, that cynicism is often justified. Too often, SA operators are big on promises and short on delivery. But Cell C’s new strategy may indeed shake up SA broadband. Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt is a dynamic and colourful character. His colleagues at the cellular network operator say he works harder than anyone they’ve met, often pulling stints late into the night and insisting that his team be available to work similarly long hours.
Cell C, which launched its third-generation (3G) mobile network in the Eastern Cape city of Port Elizabeth on Friday, is playing up its launch offering of two broadband modems with 24GB and 60GB data bundles. But the company has also quietly introduced two new data-only products at prices that are significantly lower than the offerings that are bundled with modems and much cheaper than anything offered by rivals MTN and Vodacom.
Cell C will begin upgrading its new wireless broadband network to 42Mbit/s within the next six to eight months, CEO Lars Reichelt says. On Friday, Cell C switched on the first leg of its third-generation (3G) cellular network in Port Elizabeth, offering peak speeds of up to 21Mbit/s. It is expected to expand the network to two more cities in September – probably Bloemfontein and Durban.
