Cell C sees growing demand for cloud phone systems in South Africa
Cell C says demand for hosted PBX and IP telephony services is growing in South Africa as organisations replace legacy phone systems with cloud-based alternatives.
“Hosted PBX and cloud telephony are increasingly adopted as part of integrated ICT solutions that combine connectivity, voice, and cloud services,” a Cell C Business spokesperson told MyBroadband.
They said the company has seen strong interest from multi‑site organisations, mobile or hybrid workforces, and operationally intensive sectors.
“These include security, logistics and manufacturing, where reliability, mobility and centralised service management are critical.”
Earlier this year, Cell C Business announced a new strategy to support South Africa’s small and medium enterprise sector.
This included digital pen and formflow solutions, cloud PBX, and time and attendance services targeted at medium businesses, corporates, and large enterprises.
Cell C’s formflow solutions are based on XCallibre, while its time and attendance systems use Econz Workforce Management.
As for cloud PBX, Cell C said it uses specialist technology partners to address different customer requirements for its hosted PBX and IP telephony services.
“The services are underpinned by Cell C’s mobile network capabilities and managed fixed connectivity infrastructure, delivered through a capital light access model,” it stated.
“Cell C remains fully accountable for contracting, service delivery, performance, and ongoing support.”
It said demand for hosted PBX and IP telephony services in South Africa continues to grow, particularly among SMEs and public‑sector customers replacing legacy on‑premise systems with cloud‑based alternatives.
“This growth is closely linked to improved broadband availability and increased adoption of mobile and hybrid work models.”
Cell C’s renewed SME focus follows research it conducted with Kantar into South Africa’s small and medium enterprise market.
The study found that connectivity has become central to daily business operations, including sales, bookings, payments, delivery management, and staff coordination.
Cell C said many SMEs no longer view downtime as a technical inconvenience, but as a direct threat to their ability to operate.
Other studies show that infrastructure gaps, unreliable internet access, and rising operating costs continue to weaken SME competitiveness in South Africa.
Cell C said these pressures also affect mid-market corporates, sector operators, and small enterprise clusters that rely on dependable connectivity.
Products for different business sizes
Cell C has structured its SME offering around different business sizes and operational requirements.
For small office and home office users with one to nine people, the operator is offering integrated mobile voice and data products, alongside fibre-to-the-business services.
For small businesses with 10 to 50 people, Cell C is offering business-grade mobile voice and data connectivity, time and attendance tools, and fibre services.
Medium businesses with 51 to 500 people can access mobile voice and data connectivity, digital pen and formflow tools, fibre, cloud PBX, and time and attendance services.
Corporate and large enterprise customers can access the same product categories, with scalable multi-site connectivity and dedicated account management.
Cell C said the common foundation across these tiers is reliable connectivity, simple management, cloud-ready services, and human support when required.
“SMEs cannot afford downtime, not even for a moment,” said Chris Lazarus, Cell C chief officer for sales, regions, and customer care.
“They told us they want reliability, simplicity and affordability. They want solutions that work every time, are simple to manage, and come with real human support.”
Lazarus said Cell C redesigned its SME offering around these priorities to better reflect the realities faced by South African businesses.
Cell C said its network model now provides access to more than 28,000 towers, supporting best-available-signal performance across South Africa.
“Connectivity is becoming the new driver of economic participation,” Lazarus said.
“By showing up as a partner that will walk the journey with the business, we’re helping SMEs stay online, stay productive, adopt cloud tools with confidence, and stay competitive.”
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