Cell C CEO Jose dos Santos said their network problems have been resolved, and that their network is now on par or better than Vodacom and MTN’s.
Speaking to Bruce Whitfield on CNBC’s MoneyMakers, dos Santos said they invested heavily in their network to solve the problems they faced in 2013.
He said Cell C invested close to R5 billion in its network over the last two years, and that they will continue to improve their coverage and service levels.
Cell C’s initial network investment focus is on metropolitan areas. “In outlying areas, we use Vodacom’s network to roam on – we have full access to their 3G network in these areas,” said dos Santos.
He said Cell C’s network is on par with Vodacom and MTN in metropolitan areas, more so after the launch of its LTE services towards the end of 2015.
“We launched LTE in Gauteng, the Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal in 2015, where over 500 sites were installed which provide higher speeds and better service levels.”
Dos Santos said Cell C is currently not suffering from poor network quality, but rather from a perception problem, and if you look at their growth rate and how many customers are joining them, it is clear that consumers trust Cell C.
He added that their new subscribers often say the network quality is much better than what they expected.
Dos Santos conceded there are areas where Cell C struggles with coverage, but said this is the case with all operators.
“I am convinced that our network quality is at the same level or better than MTN and Vodacom.
