Cell C's smiling

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 20 March 2007

Cell C is smiling, not because a major competitor has been declared bankrupt, but because they’ve experienced phenomenal growth rates where their data services are of a concern, and expect that the trend will continue upwards.

Cell C’s reported growth rates for November 2005 up to December 2006 look as follow:

• Activesubscribers  - ­ 367%

• Data usage on network - ­ 949%

• Internet bandwidth utilization - ­ 14 000%

It’s notable that Cell C managed to achieve these phenomenal growth rates, without offering the fastest service or true broadband service for that matter. It must be Cell C’s openness about the matter, among other things, which is driving their clear success…

What do you mean by ‘openness’?

Well, Cell C is clearly not trying to hide the facts:

• Cell C’s service is not truly “broadband”  - Cell C mentioned ‘…whilst their service is not truly “broadband”, it is an always-on, reliable Internet connection that is three times the speed of fixed line dial-up connections’ (Cell C shows impressive data growth, MyADSL, 19 March 2007). In other words, Cell C is not unwilling to admit that they don’t offer a true broadband service at this stage.

• No intention to enter 3G/HSDPA market at this stage – “Cell C is not going to invest in a 3rd generation network without a valid business case. There are better ways to add value to most consumers,” said Cell C (Cell C shows impressive data growth, MyADSL, 19 March 2007). In other words, Cell C is not unwilling to admit that they’re not going to enter the 3G/HSDPA market at this stage.

Why should people make use of Cell C’s data service?

Cell C’s ‘…EDGE service covers 90% of the metropolitan areas which makes it a suitable dial-up replacement for many of their customers’ (Cell C shows impressive data growth, MyADSL, 19 March 2007).

In other words, excellent coverage in metropolitan areas makes their service a suitable alternative to dial-up.

How much bandwidth does the average Cell C data user consumes on a monthly basis?

+- 5MB of bandwidth is used by the average Cell C data user on a monthly basis.

What percentage of Cell C’s subscribers are accessing Cell C’s network from prepaid accounts?

44%

What’s Cell C’s strategy when it comes to the delivery of data services?

Cell C’s strategy ‘…is to focus on the average SA telecoms users’ (Cell C shows impressive data growth, MyADSL, 19 March 2007).

Cell C does this by:

• Providing a better user experience – A better user experience incomparison to that of their competitors.

• Giving value for money – Charge reasonable prices, et cetera.

• Focusing on voice and simple data services – Keep it simple.

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa) wishes Cell C the best of luck in their future endeavours.