Cell C, one of South Africa’s leading communications providers, has commenced with the migration of its 16 million subscribers to MTN’s cell-phone tower infrastructure. This comes as the company prepares to switch off its own radio access network to save costs and bring customers a higher-quality service.
According to MyBroadband, “this infrastructure-sharing strategy will allow Cell C to reduce network investments and forms part of a broader plan to dig the internet service provider out of deep financial woes”.
In a statement made towards the end of 2020, Cell C announced the following:
“From mid-December, our contract and broadband customers will be enabled to roam on a partner network. This change will be beneficial to our customers and ensure a connectivity experience that delivers both quality and value”.
The broadband provider mentioned that current customers would be migrated in stages, with the last stage expected to be completed as early as February 2021.
As part of the process, all users will be notified via SMS when the new service has been enabled. Cell C confidently put their customers at ease by confirming that the change will not result in any additional charges and that existing terms and conditions will remain applicable.
While Apple users will automatically be switched to a “data roaming” setting, customers with other devices should be prepared to manually activate this setting to avoid possible interruptions to data connectivity.
Cell C said it will send users three SMSs prior to the changeover. “It’s important not to ignore these,” the company urges.
If any Cell C subscribers experience difficulties during or after the migration, they’re encouraged to contact the company’s customer service department at 084 135 or you can access customer support via their website.