Cell C Strikes Roaming Deal Across South Africa With MTN

PRESS RELEASE -- Cell C today announces it has entered into a far-reaching roaming agreement with MTN in order to complement Cell C’s own high quality network.

“Cell C completed a comprehensive assessment of the wholesale offerings available in the market and based on MTN’s significant network investment in recent times, we concluded that MTN offered the best solution for our business going forward,” says Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos.

The agreement will see 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.

“This deal will complement Cell C’s network offering and, with the introduction of roaming 4G services, our customers in those areas will benefit significantly,” says Dos Santos.

The rollout of this multi-billion-rand long-term roaming agreement will begin soon.

“The roaming agreement with MTN best meets our needs as a company and we are expecting to complete the implementation in the next few months,” says Dos Santos.

Ensuring an enhanced customer experience was the primary focus of executing the roaming agreement with MTN. Cell C is pleased that this includes a seamless handover for customers. This means that where a customer is on a call that happens to switch from a Cell C tower to a MTN tower, the call will not be dropped.

“Following our in-depth analysis, we know this roaming agreement will bring exceptional value to all parties, particularly to our customers,” says Dos Santos.

Cell C’s network service offering is at 99% 2G population coverage, 96% 3G population coverage and with the implementation of this deal 4G population coverage will increase from 33% to 80%. “We look forward to the working with MTN on the implementation of this agreement,” says Dos Santos.

ENDS