Mobile service provider Cell C said this morning it has exceeded the 500 000 subscriber mark and is revising its forward-looking targets to achieve the first million by year-end.
Cell C chairman and CEO Talaat Laham said around 40 000 of the half a million subscribers are postpaid subscribers with the balance being prepaid subscribers.
Laham said subscribers are considered to be anyone who has made or received a call on the Cell C network and 80% of the subscriber base is active on the network at any given point.
He noted that the company has extended its distribution footprint to more than 4 000 points of presence, more than double the number of outlets operational in November last year.
Jose dos Santos, MD of Cell C, said the operator`s distribution channel includes a network of 32 franchises, with 20 more planned by year-end; 200 dealers and retailers such as Lewis, Edcon, Woolworths, Clicks and Game.
Dos Santos said Cell C recently concluded an agreement with Massmart which allowed the cellular operator to establish a presence in stores such as Dion.
According to Laham, 80% of the Cell C subscribers are the result of "churn" in the mobile industry, with the company accounting for around 46% of the total churn market. Only 20% of Cell C subscribers are new mobile user acquisitions.
Network roll-out has suffered some delays, with the result that the original plan to complete 1 500 base stations by the end of the year has been extended to March 2003. Laham said the delays were mainly the result of delays in the acquisition of sites, a process that includes the requirements for impact and environmental assessments.
Cell C has existing network services in Durban and large sections of Pretoria, as well as parts of Johannesburg and Cape Town. "We are also expanding our micro base station installations within shopping malls," said Laham.
He added that Cell C has entered an agreement with Swisscom division Comfone, which will allow Cell C subscribers to roam in 150 countries by July. The service provider also has roaming agreements with six countries, including Spain, Ivory Coast and Mauritius.
According to Laham, the first 2 000 community service telephones (CSTs) will be operational by the end of 2003, with another 10 000 to be rolled out by the end of 2004. Cell C is committed to providing 52 000 CSTs by 2008.
"We forecast a total market in 2007 of around 16 million subscribers," said Laham, adding that Cell C expects to have 20% of that total. "Our research shows that after six months, South Africans are increasingly aware of our core product principles of simplicity, choice and value."
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