Cell C’s big MVNO plans

Cell C says it is still seeing significant interest from mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) clients wanting to partner with it.

Cell C’s chief officer of wholesale, Stephen Morony, said the mobile operator wants to expand its MVNO service offerings and improve scalability.

“Cell C continues to see significant and growing interest from new MVNO clients,” said Morony.

“This robust demand highlights the attractiveness of Cell C’s network and the overall health of the MVNO market, and the flexibility and comprehensive support Cell C offers.”

“This makes the telco an appealing partner for new MVNOs,” he added.

Looking ahead, Morony said Cell C’s key areas of focus in the MVNO space are retaining current business, fostering new opportunities, expanding service offerings, and building scalability to meet the space’s growing needs.

MVNOs are operators that don’t own network infrastructure and instead buy wholesale access from a mobile network operator to provide connectivity to their subscribers.

Cell C and MTN are the most prominent MVNO enablers in the country.

South Africa has seen a significant upswing in MVNOs in recent years. The space now has 13 major players, with five of them entering the market in the past three years.

However, MVNOs say this doesn’t mean the market is getting saturated. There is still a lot of demand for MVNO services from companies like Cell C and MTN.

MTN South Africa recently told MyBroadband that it also sees great opportunity for growth in the MVNO space.

“MTN has witnessed strong growth of MVNOs in the country, in recent years. Considering current demand and interest shown there is still good growth expected in the market,” it said.

“MVNOs, therefore, form a big part of our wholesale partner proposition, and our plan is to continue expanding and offering the best MVNO services to our customers.”

While Cell C no longer operates its own cellular towers, it remains a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE).

The company decommissioned its physical radio access member as part of its turnaround strategy, which included cutting costs.

Cell C still operates its own core network, while MTN manages and maintains its cellular network for prepaid and MVNO customers as a “virtual radio access network”.

This strategy has already started bearing fruit, with MyBroadband Insights’ latest network quality report revealing that Cell C’s average download speed increased from 28.70Mbps in Q1 2023 to 39.32Mbps in Q1 2024.

Following the release of its MVNO 2022 report, BMIT CEO Christopher Geerdts said he expects MVNOs to double their mobile services market share by 2025.

Although MVNOs represent just a thin slice of the market, BMIT said the entry of large, mass-market players is significant.

Geerdts said the timing was right for MVNOs to grow despite economic challenges, as various growth drivers had come together.

He said large banks and retailers with extensive customer bases and strong brands have entered the market, introducing crossover products to provide value to their customers.

Primary author on the BMIT MVNO report, Johan Nel, said a combination of shifts in the mobile, retail, banking, IT, and media sectors has put the MVNO market at an inflection point.

“We are seeing next-generation business models and strategic partnerships kicking into full gear, underscored by the rapid uptake of fintech by the mobile operators, banks and the retailers,” said Nel.

“It is clear that several of the existing and new MVNOs are in a strong position to grow market share and make communications and devices more affordable.”

One MVNO running on Cell C’s platform — Capitec Connect — has shown strong growth since its launch in September 2022.

In September 2023, Capitec released its half-year financial results, revealing that it had issued 1.3 million SIMs since its launch.

It also achieved an average revenue per user (ARPU) of R77 in August 2023. The figure is high for prepaid services relative to other providers.

The company released its annual results for 2023/24 in April 2024, revealing that it had generated R35 million in net transaction and commission income over the year.

This represented a massive R42 million year-on-year increase, with Capitec Connect recording a R7 million loss the year before.

However, that R7-million loss only represents the first five months of Capitec Connect’s operations.