Mobile operator Cell C will launch its fixed-LTE products and services for business partners by the end of October.
This is according to Deena Rajah, wholesale business development manager at Cell C.
The announcement comes barely a week after Cell C completed its recapitalisation deal.
Rajah was discussing the company’s transition from a traditional telco to a digital organisation, at one of the breakaway sessions at Digital Council Africa’s Conext Conference 2022 in Cape Town.
Cell C has embarked on a new network strategy, whereby instead of owning the technology, it decided to partner and use technology in the marketplace, he revealed.
“We’ve moved from building our own towers and managing our own Radio Access Network to purchasing capacity and partnering with other network operators in this country.
“To date, Cell C subscribers have access to 8 775 sites, and 96% of them are LTE-enabled.
“Before the end of 2023, the objective and the target is to get access to 14 000 sites countrywide that would include the more traditional voice services, mobile data services and also the new upcoming fixed-LTE product that we plan to roll out before the end of this year.
“We’re looking forward to taking this to market. It’s a dynamic commercial model that’s built behind it, so if there’s opportunity that you have out there, we would gladly like to enable you and support you with the launch of fixed-LTE products and services.”
Cell C previously provided wholesale fixed-LTE services, but killed off the business, saying it was no longer profitable and impacted the quality of its network.
The mobile operator provided the services via Internet Solutions.
At the time, analysts concluded Cell C’s decision to terminate LTE services was a reflection of the financial challenges at the company.
More services to market
Cell C last week finally secured fresh funding to recapitalise the business, after a painstakingly-long period.
The deal will see new money flow into Cell C, to address the company’s financial and operational liabilities.
Responding to a question about the impact of the cash-raising exercise in the short-term, Rajah said on wholesale, one of the expectations has been realised, with Capitec releasing its new mobile product.
“That was a deal that was imminent and it was sitting on the backburner for some months. On the back of the recap, Capitec went live earlier this week. That was one of the big successes and there was a dependency on that.
“The second dependency is our digital strategy. We could only embark on the digital strategy once we understood where we’re going with our recap programme. Further to that – on the consumer side – you’d certainly see a different and bigger bouquet of services that Cell C will be taking to market.”
Looking to the future, Rajah doesn’t see Cell C being the traditional telco provider it is right now, but rather an applications provider.
“An applications provider in the sense of offering lifestyle applications, for example. Besides having a network that we could take to market and a consumer having a Cell C network product, the consumer would then also acquire a Cell C application-based product.
“I see Cell C having to own the services that we provide to a single consumer out there. The consumer may not have the requirement to go to multiple network or service operators; they can then acquire all or most of it from a single provider. ”
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