Telkom wants to buy Cell C in a plan that will include reducing its troubled rival’s debt and renegotiating contracts with suppliers, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
Browsing: MTN South Africa
As speculation swirls that Telkom has a made a third approach to Cell C about a potential acquisition, the financially distressed mobile operator on Tuesday said it is making progress on a planned recapitalisation.
Telkom will terminate 2G services in March 2020, CEO Sipho Maseko said in an interview with TechCentral on Tuesday. It will be the first national operator in South Africa to do so.
Telkom issued a cautionary notice to shareholders on Tuesday saying it is in discussions in relation to a possible acquisition – and the most likely target is Cell C.
Vodacom spent almost R4.8-billion on expanding and improving its network in South Africa in the six months to 30 September 2018, an 18.2% jump from the same period a year ago.
EXCLUSIVE | Icasa is poised to announce a plan to auction off radio frequency spectrum suitable for the roll-out of 5G infrastructure in a move that is likely to be widely welcomed by the telecommunications industry.
MTN Group is in advanced talks to sell stakes in tower assets in Ghana and Uganda worth as much as R8-billion as Africa’s largest wireless carrier looks to accelerate a broader disposal plan.
MTN South Africa lost 300 000 customers in the quarter ended 30 September 2019, but still managed to eke out service revenue growth of 0.4%. It ended the period with 28.9 million subscribers.
Cell C has regularised its payments to MTN South Africa for network roaming and has coughed up almost R750-million between July and September.
Blue Label Telecoms, which bought a 45% stake in Cell C in 2017 for R5.5-billion, has said in its annual report that it is “extremely disappointed” in the performance of the mobile operator.