Cell C customers will soon roam on MTN’s network in smaller cities

A pretty big announcement in South Africa’s telecoms world this morning. MTN will soon let Cell C users roam on its network, to supplement the latter’s coverage across smaller towns.

In an announcement issued Tuesday, MTN’s CEO Godfrey Motsa explained the move is beneficial for both parties.

“This deal will help fund our ongoing network expansion while also immediately offering more South Africans in peri-urban and rural parts of our country greater connectivity, as they roam off MTN’s existing network,” he explained in a press release.

Additionally, for Cell C, it means greater coverage in smaller cities and rural areas, where MTN’s network overlaps. The list of towns and coverage map hasn’t yet been released.

For customers of either network, there will be no service disruption, MTN notes, while Cell C customers will not require new SIM cards.

“This agreement is an important infrastructure sharing development within the South African telecommunications sector and MTN looks forward to welcoming Cell C onto South Africa’s best network,” MTN concluded.

The move will begin in June and complete “within two months”.

Feature image: warrenski via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0, resized)