Cell C close to 5G launch

Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes says they can now access 5G services through their roaming agreement with Vodacom.

Mendes said they have not yet gone to market with the service, but expect to do so in the next few months.

“We’re not far now,” he said. Cell C previously told MyBroadband they are targeting a second-quarter launch for 5G.

Mendes explained that the 5G functionality through Vodacom was possible after enabling Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) roaming.

MOCN roaming allows multiple core networks to share the same radio access network.

In January 2025, Cell C said that they had nearly completed testing 5G with MTN and Vodacom, and were finalising activation schedules with them.

“Current indications suggest that large-scale activations will commence in the second quarter of 2025,” Cell C said.

5G technology offers several benefits over 4G, including significantly lower latency, higher speeds, and enhanced network capacity.

All of South Africa’s major mobile operators, except Cell C, currently offer the technology.

Cell C’s push into 5G is significant, considering the mobile operator reiterated its position that it was in no rush to adopt the technology just under a year ago.

“Cell C is currently in the process of modernising its core network to the latest architecture necessary for 5G deployment and progressing discussions with the network partner,” it said in late January 2024.

In its feedback at the time, Cell C said it had recently finalised its network migration. To do so, it had to establish agreements with its partners MTN and Vodacom.

MTN currently provides Cell C with a virtual radio access network primarily for prepaid and mobile virtual network operator customers.

Cell C’s contract customers generally roam on Vodacom’s network.

However, Cell C also recently told MyBroadband that MOCN roaming now allows them to connect prepaid customers to Vodacom, and contract customers to MTN.

Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes previously said the mobile operator had to rework its wholesale and roaming agreements with its partners to launch 5G, which he said had been completed.

However, he noted that having access to Vodacom’s and MTN’s networks wasn’t the only requirement for Cell C to adopt 5G — it also had to upgrade its core network to support the technology.

Mendes previously stated that the company was in no rush to launch 5G and claimed it “unlocks nothing” for customers.

He clarified that he wasn’t knocking 5G as a technology, highlighting that it benefits operators by more efficiently supporting higher traffic volumes.

“However, the benefits 5G unlocks for consumers is not obvious, not transparent,” added Mendes.

“2G to 3G unlocked data, 3G to 4G unlocked [streaming] video, 4G to 5G unlocks nothing.”

He explained that despite 5G offering significant benefits at an enterprise level, mobile operators like MTN and Vodacom struggle to monetise their 5G infrastructure at a consumer level.

However, he added that Cell C’s partners won’t charge more to let its customers roam on their 5G networks.

“It’s in their interests not to charge more,” Mendes said.

This is because operators want as much traffic on their 5G networks as possible because it’s more efficient.

Cell C launching VoLTE

Cell C also recently revealed its plans to launch Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services in South Africa, which it will do through its partnership with Germany-based ng-voice.

It highlighted the recent completion of its first VoLTE call on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

It said the development of VoLTE will enable Voice over New Radio (VoNR) and Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) services.

Through VoLTE technology, cellular subscribers can make and receive phone calls without the network first disconnecting them from the faster LTE data service and pushing them back to 3G.

Mendes said he believes they are the second operator in the world to launch this technology, and the first operator in Africa.