{"id":469871,"date":"2022-11-20T13:01:10","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T11:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=469871"},"modified":"2022-11-20T13:02:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T11:02:28","slug":"vodacom-network-open-to-mvnos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/telecoms\/469871-vodacom-network-open-to-mvnos.html","title":{"rendered":"Vodacom network open to MVNOs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vodacom is in talks with companies that want to launch MVNOs on the company’s mobile network, reports the Sunday Times.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Vodacom MD Sitho Mdlalose said the network provider is “open for business” with MVNOs to fulfil obligations that form part of its recently-acquired spectrum licence.<\/p>\n

“Already, we are in discussions with a number of interested parties across a range of industries and will make announcements in due course,” said Mdlalose.<\/p>\n

The company plans to launch its mobile virtual network enablement platform next year, which would support the operation of MVNOs on its mobile network.<\/p>\n

It would see Vodacom join MTN and Cell C, which have already opened their networks to third-party virtual network operators.<\/p>\n

\"Shameel<\/a>

Shameel Joosub, Vodacom CEO<\/p><\/div>\n

Vodacom had spoken about launching its MVNO platform since late 2020, when it told TechCentral<\/strong><\/a> that it was actively building the capability and hoped to launch it soon after Icasa’s spectrum auction.<\/p>\n

“We will have an MVNE (mobile virtual network enablement) platform available, and we will have services to support them,” said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.<\/p>\n

“It shouldn’t take too long. Hopefully, after the spectrum auction, we’ll be ready to launch. Already, if you want to be an MVNO, you are welcome to approach us.”<\/p>\n

Sunday Times reported that Vodacom’s support for MVNOs was also motivated by being required to support at least three MVNOs on its network as part of its new spectrum licence.<\/p>\n

Historically<\/strong><\/a>, these MVNOs have been operated by leading local banks, retailers, and ISPs \u2014 with the likes of Standard Bank, FNB, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Afrihost, and Axxess all already providing MVNO services through Cell C and MTN.<\/p>\n

Vodacom profit drops<\/h2>\n

Vodacom recently reported<\/strong><\/a> a 9% decline in half-yearly net profit compared to the same period last year \u2014 dropping from R8.9 billion to R8.1 billion.<\/p>\n

Operating profits were also down by 5.6% from R14.1 billion to R13.3 billion.<\/p>\n

Vodacom attributed these drops to market volatility and weaker global economic prospects \u2014 partly due to the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The network operator also had to invest R5.8 billion into its South African network \u2014 the most in a six-month period \u2014 to improve customer experience amid increased load-shedding.<\/p>\n

However, there was also good news: Group revenue rose by 7.7% year-on-year, supported by rand depreciation against Vodacom’s basket of international currencies.<\/p>\n

Group service revenue also increased by 7.2%, while its “super app”, VodaPay, has amassed 2.2 million registered users and 3.5 million downloads.<\/p>\n

\n

Now read: Openserve and Octotel launch double fibre speed specials<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vodacom is in talks with companies that want to launch MVNOs on its mobile network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341039,"featured_media":469889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[355,35,42,5076,1958,65343,41],"class_list":["post-469871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-telecoms","tag-cell-c","tag-headline","tag-mtn","tag-mvno","tag-shameel-joosub","tag-sitho-mdlalose","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469871"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341039"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469871"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":469885,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469871\/revisions\/469885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}