Vodacom

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Mobile network operator MTN may soon be entering a new African market if it accepts the license offer made by the Tanzanian Communications Commission. The offer is based on the fact that one of the mobile operators in …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-South African investment company VenFin has committed itself to purchasing the remainder of what U.K. cellular company Vodafone does not buy of Hosken Consolidated Investments’ (HCI) 5-percent stake in mobile company Vodacom. A spokesman for VenFin said the …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Gambian mobile network operator Africell has announced the company has entered into roaming partnership deals with four major mobile operators in the world-Vodafone U.K., Vodacom South Africa, Hutchinson Telecom Hong Kong and Emtel Mauritius. The roaming agreements were …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Siemens Telecommunications recently announced it has been awarded a 1 million Euro contract to supply South Africa’s mobile service provider, Vodacom, with the infrastructure and applications for its new multimedia messaging services (MMS). In terms of the contract, …

MUNICH, Germany-Siemens said African operator Vodacom will install Openwave Systems Inc.’s multimedia messaging service platform as part of the operator’s GSM/GPRS network. Vodacom licensed Openwave’s equipment through Siemens, which is responsible for the overall project management and integration of the …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-South African mobile network operator Vodacom announced it has stopped the practice of “blacklisting” stolen handsets and instead has moved toward what it refers to as “greylisting.” The blacklisting practice uses a handset’s unique identity number to bar …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Technology and telecommunications holding group Venfin announced that it would not be prepared to spend more than 1.5 billion rand (US$143.4 million) for the 5-percent stake in mobile network operator Vodacom. The share has been offered by finance …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-South African mobile network operator Cell C announced it will not increase its call tariffs in the near future as it strives to gain market share from the incumbent operators Vodacom and MTN. Talaat Laham, chief executive of …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Mobile network operator Vodacom announced it will assist students in schools throughout South Africa and the region to become computer literate following the opening of the E-Learning Resource Center in Soweto. The center was opened by Vodacom Foundation …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-South African mobile network operator Vodacom announced it entered a “highly innovative” financing arrangement that minimizes the risk exposure of individual stakeholders in the establishment of Vodacom Congo. The Vodacom Group, through its subsidiary Vodacom International, acquired 51 …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—South African mobile network operator Vodacom announced that it has won a license to operate a GSM network in Mozambique. The expansion drive has been part of the company’s strategy to seek markets for growth across Africa. The …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Vodacom Congo announced that it has built an 88-base station GSM mobile cellular network in Africa’s fourth-largest country in less than three months. The network is composed of satellite links connecting cities more than 1,600 kilometers apart in …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—South African mobile network operator Vodacom is currently in the process of launching its cellular network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As an indication of expected growth, the company has ordered 155,000 Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—South Africa’s third mobile network operator Cell C has announced that the company has nearly doubled the number of subscribers it originally forecast for the first five months of operation. The operator’s original forecast was to have 250,000 …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—South African mobile network operator Vodacom confirmed that the company has as yet not accepted the offer of a mobile license in Zambia. The operator was offered a license for the fourth mobile network in Zambia in the …

BOSTON, United States—South Africa’s biggest cell-phone operator Vodacom may soon enter the Zambian cellular market by operating the fourth cellular network in the country. Official authorization has been granted for the license, but the final decision rests on the approval …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—The overall mobile industry in South Africa is expected to grow to 46 million rand (US$4.1 million) by 2005, with Vodacom continuing to be the largest player by far and Cell C set to achieve approximately 5 billion …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Cellular service provider B Clear, a subsidiary of Australian company B Digital, has reported that it may leave the South African mobile market. The company recently announced it had sold 40,000 subscribers to M-Tel, the service provider company …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—After years of uncertainty and a lack of clear policy, the South African Department of Communications has opened the way for Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) services, inviting potential operators to apply for licenses. The latest …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—South African mobile network operator Vodacom has launched a new prepaid tariff option offering the cheapest peak time prepaid rates in the country. The product, called SmartStep, charges prepaid calls at 2.70 rand (US$0.24) for the first minute …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Cell C, the third South African mobile network operator, announced its postpaid offerings and tariffs 15 days after going live with its prepaid products. Since 17 November, the network claims to have received more than 400,000 orders for …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Mobile network operators MTN, Vodacom and Cell C recently signed a new interconnect agreement with fixed-line operator Telkom. Perceived as creating a “win win” situation for all operators concerned, the new agreement will see mobile networks gaining 79 …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Various African countries have begun the task of liberalizing their telecommunications markets with the various governments seeking to court offers from foreign strategic equity partners. However, for the telecoms step of the African renaissance to move forward, analysts …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-After a series of delays, the battle for the South African cellular market appears set to begin. Third mobile network operator Cell C has launched a massive marketing campaign to begin winning some mind share of South African …

BUCHAREST, Romania—According to the Tanzanian newspaper Business Day, the Tanzanian cellular operator Vodacom announced that after one year, 130,000 subscribers have been signed up to GSM services rather than the 15,000 that were expected to subscribe.Growth has proved so rapid …