Standard Bank Connect ditches Cell C

Standard Bank Connect is not merely adding MTN as a partner network, it is switching away from using Cell C as its host operator entirely.

Standard Bank announced its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) partnership with MTN in June, saying it would introduce new mobile products to its customers.

At the same time, it rebranded Standard Bank Mobile to Standard Bank Connect.

While Standard Bank Connect mentioned a gradual transition and pilot programme, the phrasing of the announcement wasn’t explicit.

“We are excited to collaborate with MTN and the opportunity to provide our customers with a range of newly differentiated mobile plans,” Standard Bank Connect head Kartik Mistry said.

“The transition will be gradual, where we invite our customers to join us on our pilot programme, helping us to build meaningful services together and experiencing Standard Bank on MTN’s wide network.”

First National Bank (FNB) made a very similar announcement last year about its MVNO, FNB Connect.

However, in its case, the bank told MyBroadband that FNB Connect would run on both Cell C and MTN.

Standard Bank said it would introduce a new set of data and voice packages, raising questions about whether it would create specific products that run on the MTN network while still offering Cell C services.

However, a Standard Bank spokesperson has confirmed that they are completely switching away from Cell C.

Cell C no longer operates its own radio access network (RAN) and instead has network sharing and roaming deals with MTN and Vodacom.

Cell C’s MVNO and prepaid customers are on a virtual RAN operated by MTN, while contract subscribers roam on Vodacom’s network.

In simple terms, MVNO subscribers can connect to Cell C towers operated by MTN or seamlessly and transparently roam on MTN’s network.

In exchange, MTN gets access to some of Cell C’s radio frequency spectrum, allowing it to increase the capacity of its network.

The deal has been a win-win for Cell C and MTN.

With Cell C no longer operating its own radio network infrastructure, its capital expenditure has dropped significantly. At the same time, its network quality has improved dramatically.

MyBroadband Insights’ latest Mobile Network Quality Report showed that Cell C’s average download speed increased from 28.70 Mbps in Q1 2023 to 39.32 Mbps in Q1 2024.

This improvement helped Cell C to overtake Telkom and rank third behind MTN and Vodacom in network quality.

Cell C CTO Schalk Visser told MyBroadband that this achievement resulted from sticking to its network transformation strategy for the past four years.

“This business model is similar to other asset-light models like Airbnb and Uber, who provide services without owning the assets,” he said.

“It will allow Cell C to focus investment on deep customer centricity and quality experience, as well as to deliver value and choice to customers.”

Visser said the network migration has given them improved stability with fewer connectivity issues, improved signal strength, better voice quality, minimal downtime, greater reliability, resilience, and consistency of network, and increased coverage.

“Cell C has pushed boundaries to bring to life a pioneering new business model in the telecommunications industry,” Visser said.

However, while Cell C has shown fantastic improvement, the report shows that MTN remains South Africa’s best mobile data network overall.

MTN had the highest average download speed (82.48 Mbps), the highest average upload speed (24.03 Mbps), and the second-best latency (29 ms).

MTN was the best-performing network in Cape Town, eThekwini, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay. Vodacom dominated in Johannesburg.

Considering only the network performance, Standard Bank’s decision to switch to MTN is unsurprising.

Standard Bank said its MVNO has grown to over 300,000 mobile customers since launching in 2018.

“Customers have derived immense value from the offering, with bank fees offered back in airtime based on the products and services customers have with the bank,” it stated.