Cell C and MTN on Monday announced a new roaming agreement, building on and extending the firms’ previous agreement made in 2018, and pushing Cell C’s LTE coverage further across South Africa.
Last year’s deal saw Cell C’s network coverage extend to areas beyond South Africa’s largest cities, but the new agreement will push Cell C’s coverage to 95% of the South African population, on the back of MTN’s network infrastructure.
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This also means nearly 90% LTE coverage for Cell C customers, but the two provides will continue to use their respective frequencies and have control over their own customers’ experience.
“This is a pivotal step in Cell C’s turnaround strategy,” said Douglas Craigie Stevenson, Cell C CEO.
“One of the key pillars of this turnaround is to implement a revised network strategy that enables Cell C to manage its network capacity requirements in a more cost efficient and scalable manner.”
Stevenson believes that the deal will allow Cell C to avoid building expensive network infrastructure, and focus on “developing innovative and disruptive service offerings that will be welcomed by data hungry consumers”.
The roaming agreement won’t be felt by Cell C customers immediately. It could take up to three years to implement, beginning in early 2020.
Feature image: Cell C CEO Douglas Cragie Stevenson, via Cell C
