South Africa’s third mobile operator, Cell C says it will pay new customers up to R10,000 to cancel their contract with rival operators including Vodacom and MTN.<\/p>\n
“We will buy your contract out to the value of R10,000\u201d said CEO Jose Dos Santos. “Now we are going to give Vodacom a good smack,\u201d he told journalists at the company\u2019s head office Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
“So many South Africans are feeling trapped in long term contracts by their providers that ask for extraordinary cancellation fees for early termination.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that postpaid and TopUp customers can qualify for an amount of between R1,000 and R10,000, plus a new handset, if they sign up for one of seven new EPIC plans.<\/p>\n
The new products range from R69 per month through to the unlimited package at R999.<\/p>\n
Dos Santos said that customers would only need to go to a Cell C store to determine how much they qualify for.<\/p>\n
Cell C said that customers signing up for the EPIC Contract packages will not be subject to any price increases for the duration of their contract.<\/p>\n
The group said that its customer base is close to 21 million, up from just under 10 million in 2011.<\/p>\n
Data traffic on Cell C\u2019s network has increased by\u00a044%, with data revenues increasing 59% between the first quarter of 2014 and Q1 2015.<\/p>\n
Cell C\u2019s chief financial officer Robert Pasley said the majority of the company\u2019s service revenue comes from prepaid subscribers.<\/p>\n
Pasley said prepaid spend increased 17% year-on-year, while contract revenue remained flat.<\/p>\n
Total service revenue increased 2%, despite a decline in revenue from mobile call termination rates of 18%.<\/p>\n
Total revenue increased by 3% year-on-year.<\/p>\n
Cell C restructuring could see job cuts: union<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n