Cell C says it has completed the national rollout of MTN roaming in sixteen weeks, well ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
The agreement sees MTN providing both 3G and 4G services to Cell C in areas where Cell C has chosen to purchase coverage rather than self-build, mainly outside of the main metro areas.<\/p>\n
Cell C said its customers now have access to thousands of additional sites, of which around two thirds are LTE enabled.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeedback from the areas that went live with the service early on has been fantastic, and the positive responses from customers around the country continues to come in,\u201d said Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to seamlessly handover from our network to MTN\u2019s without noticing the switch has been the biggest benefit of this roaming agreement. Previously, this was not possible when customers entered roaming areas,” he said.<\/p>\n
Cell C said its network service offering is now at 99% 2G population coverage, 96% 3G population coverage and 80% 4G population.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompetition in our industry is more robust when we are all competing on both service and infrastructure. By roaming on MTN, Cell C has dramatically boosted its coverage, with a strong focus on rural areas. Bottom line \u2013 more South Africans have more choice and that is good for competition which is good for our country,” said MTN CEO, Godfrey Motsa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are actively engaging ICASA to release 4G spectrum to enable more growth, more competition and to help further drive down data prices,” he said.<\/p>\n