Cell C has launched commercial LTE service to customers in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
This follows an investment of about R2-billion in its LTE data network in 2015. The company plans to spend a further R6-billion over the next two years to roll out LTE in other provinces and extend coverage to other parts of Gauteng and KZN in 2016 and 2017.
Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos says the phased rollout of LTE is well ahead of schedule, with the first phase of KZN and Gauteng complete. The Western Cape rollout has been pushed forward and will have 200 LTE sites live before the festive season kicks off.
Cell C announced its three-year rollout plan earlier this year and the company is well on track to exceed its expected plan.
The company has also signed supplier agreements to ensure that its towers have top-notch access through fibre connections and these agreements will see an additional 1600 fibre links rolled out in the next year.
Already Cell C’s mobile backhaul has been upgraded throughout the year, with Gauteng Metro, Durban Metro and Cape Town metro upgraded significantly to pave the way for Cell C to become self-provisioned in terms of capacity.
“Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape are also in line for a core transmission backbone upgrade to 100Gbps,” says Dos Santos.
As part of its official launch, Cell C will offer 1 000 customers in Gauteng and 500 customers in KZN the chance to buy 100Gb of data, valid for three months, at only R100. This deal will be available exclusively at its Walk-In Customer Care Centre at its head office in Buccleuch, Johannesburg and KZN regional office in Umhlanga. It is available on a first-come first-serve basis on 1 October and limited to one SIM per user.
The company will also launch a range of competitive LTE deals at selected Cell C retail outlets in Gauteng and KZN from 1 October.