Cell C’s 21 Mbps mobile broadband pricing: Fireworks expected

Rudolph Muller

Rudolph Muller is the editor at MyBroadband and covers telecoms and broadband news. Rudolph comes from an academic background, but left the University of...

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Cell C has been lagging behind Vodacom and MTN in the mobile broadband space over the last few years, but the company’s CEO Lars P. Reichelt made it clear that things are about to change when he announced in December last year that they are investing R5-billion in a new 21 Mbps HSPA+ network.

Cell C announced in January that it has partnered with the Chinese telecom equipment provider ZTE Corporation for its network needs, and in May revealed that Nokia Siemens Networks was appointed as the second vendor in its network expansion and upgrade plans.

In a recent Sunday paper marketing campaign the Cell C CEO provided the following message to subscribers:  “We are in the process of rolling out our 4Gs network:  4 Great Speeds and 4 Great Service!  Cell C is the first operator in South Africa to roll out HSPA+ using the 900 MHz frequency band which will provide wider and deeper coverage and very fast data.”

21 Mbps HSPA+ is however nothing new in South Africa.  Both Vodacom and MTN have already launched 21 Mbps mobile broadband services and are actively growing their HSPA+ coverage.  This begs the question as to what Cell C’s tactic will be to make a splash in the mobile broadband market, and if speculation is accurate the company may surprise the market with an excellent value proposition.

Cell C’s mobile broadband pricing plans?

Cell C has been mum on their mobile broadband plans over the last few months, only saying that it will launch its new network when there is sufficient coverage.  If recent information received by MyBroadband from a reliable source is correct consumers may be in for a treat.

The documentation received by MyBroadband suggests that Cell C is planning to launch two different products:  Broadband Basic and Broadband Advanced.

According to the document the Broadband Basic product will offer subscribers a Cell C branded 7.2 Mbps dongle, a prepaid SIM and 2 GB of data per month for a period of 12 months for R999 – once off.

The Broadband Advanced product will offer subscribers a Cell C branded 21 Mbps dongle, a prepaid SIM and 5 GB of data per month for a period of 12 months for R1999 – once off.

The following table, which comes from the documentation, summarizes the speculated offerings:

According to the information received this Cell C mobile broadband promotion will be launched on the 20th of August 2010, and will be available for a limited period of 3 months.

Cell C mum on this speculation

When asked about this potential service, Cell C would not confirm or deny that it is planning such offerings.  The reaction from the company when asked for media comment may however suggest that the leaked document may not be too far from what is in the pipeline.

When asked for comment about this information Cell C’s legal counsel Graham Mackinnon contacted MyBroadband, informing us that Cell C considers this information proprietary and confidential.  Mackinnon asked MyBroadband not to publish the story.

Mackinnon explained in a follow on call that his initial call should not be construed as a veiled legal threat, but it was clear that Cell C was not happy with divulging any details about the information contained in the document.

Cell C’s marketing department further pointed out that a sample brochure doing the rounds [brochure available here] is not theirs and contains inaccurate information.  Cell C’s spokesperson Karin Fourie told MyBroadband that the company is not using 2100 MHz UMTS as indicated in the brochure, that there is a spelling mistake in the advertisement and that the modem models are not accurate.

Cell C’s response

In a written response Cell C said:  “After having examined the “pamphlet” which you have relied upon for your article, we must advise that it is not an official or approved Cell C document.  We are not sure where you obtained the pamphlet but suggest that you seriously scrutinize the source of your information because the pamphlet contains various material inaccuracies. We strongly recommend that you do not publish the article as it is based on patently incorrect information in the pamphlet.”

MyBroadband explained to Cell C that the information used in the article is not based on the pamphlet, but on information contained in another document.  MyBroadband also forwarded the article to Cell C to check for accuracy, but the company would not say which information is inaccurate.

“We cannot, at this stage, advise as to what information is incorrect, because in doing so we would be releasing Cell C’s confidential, proprietary and commercially sensitive information which could potentially compromise the launch of our data offering,” said Fourie.

Cell C’s broadband plans << Will it change the local broadband market?