SA consumers, used to high prices for telecommunications, must be rubbing their hands in glee. The cost of broadband and voice telephony has begun falling, in some cases dramatically, as competition finally begins to take effect
Within days of mobile interconnection rates being cut, SA’s two biggest cellphone operators, MTN and Vodacom, have slashed their peak-time prepaid voice tariffs.
The two companies have cut prepaid rates between 6am and 8pm on weekdays by as much as 40%.
Interconnection rates are the fees the mobile operators charge each other and other operators to carry [...]
We’re in our new studio space this week, echoes, unpainted walls and all. Brett Haggard, Don Packett, Duncan McLeod and Simon Dingle are your panel this week. We discuss Cell C, in-flight Wi-Fi and much more
Telecommunications analysts have lauded Cell C for its plan apparently to sell its national network of base stations.
TechCentral reported on Tuesday that Cell C is in talks with American Tower Corp (ATC) and Eaton Telecom to sell its wireless towers, apparently as part of a broader effort to reduce and restructure its crippling long-term debt.
A [...]
Consumers should not expect lower retail tariffs to flow from the recent reduction in mobile interconnection rates, as there is “no correlation” between the two concepts.
That’s the view of Vittorio Massone (pictured), newly appointed managing partner in SA at management consulting firm Bain & Company.
Mobile operators Vodacom, MTN and Cell C recently agreed to reduce [...]
Cell C is in advanced talks to sell its national network of base stations in a move aimed partly at reducing its crippling long-term debt.
According to a well-placed source, two companies, American Tower Corp (ATC) and Eaton Telecom, have been selected as the leading bidders to buy the mobile operator’s national tower infrastructure.
The idea is [...]
Rumours are circulating that Cell C has sold a portion of its network to help defray the billions of rand in debt on its balance sheet and to help fund a new network roll-out.
The company isn’t commenting — in response to written questions from TechCentral, all its CEO Lars Reichelt (pictured) will say unhelpfully is [...]
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) will hold hearings on 4 and 5 March to consider arguments from industry players on the so-called “e-rate” discount of 50% to schools and some tertiary institutions.
Icasa introduced the e-rate regulations several years ago as way of reducing schools’ cost of communication, but the regulations haven’t had their [...]
It’s official! The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has approved revised applications from Vodacom, MTN and Cell C: mobile interconnection rates, the fees they charge each other and other operators to carry calls on their networks, will fall from R1,25/minute to 89c/minute in peak times on 1 March.
Off-peak rates will remain unchanged at 77c/minute.
The [...]
MTN SA has joined rivals Cell C and Vodacom in announcing that it plans to build an advanced 3G network capable of delivering much higher-speed broadband access.
It says it will build an enhanced high-speed packet access (HSPA+) network in 2010 and is already offering 14,4Mbit/s downloads and 5,7Mbit/s uploads across its 3G cellular network.
“The MTN [...]
