Cell C chief technology officer Schalk Visser has told MyBroadband that the company is busy testing 5G with its network partners, Vodacom and MTN, in its lab.
“That’s coming along well,” Visser said.
At the same time, Cell C is also busy working on adding support for voice over LTE (VoLTE).
“VoLTE is basically ready on the core side,” Visser said. “Now it’s just getting the OEM approvals through the gate.”
VoLTE lets cellular subscribers make and receive phone calls without the network first dropping them back to 3G, disconnecting them from the faster LTE data service during the call.
Cell C is also busy migrating subscribers to a new billing system.
Visser said they moved 1.2 million prepaid subscribers across in the second week of August, with the remaining prepaid subscribers set to migrate by the end of the month.
Cell C recently notified subscribers about the billing system migration and warned that it could cause some disruptions on the evening of Sunday, 25 August. The notice is reproduced below
We are pleased to inform you that Cell C is currently migrating to a new Business Support System platform. This upgrade aims to enhance your services and overall experience with us. Please note that there may be temporary service disruptions for Cell C Subscribers between 10:00 PM on 25 August 2024 and 4:00 AM on 26 August 2024 due to the migration activities. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and sincerely appreciate your understanding and patience. Thank you for choosing Cell C.
Word that Cell C is busy testing 5G is significant, as the operator reaffirmed its position earlier this year that it was in no rush to adopt the technology.
Cell C is the only South African mobile operator that doesn’t offer 5G connectivity.
“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,” the company reiterated in January.
At the time, Cell C said it had recently completed its network migration, which involved establishing agreements with MTN and Vodacom.
MTN currently provides Cell C with a virtual radio access network for its prepaid and mobile virtual network operator subscribers, while Cell C’s contract customers roam on Vodacom’s network.
Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes explained that the company had to update its wholesale and roaming agreements with MTN and Vodacom. This has now happened.
Although both MTN and Vodacom have 5G networks, having access to their radio networks wasn’t the only requirement for Cell C to offer the technology, he said.
Cell C first had to upgrade its core network to support the technology.
Mendes previously said Cell C wasn’t in any rush to launch 5G products as it “unlocks nothing” for consumers.
Mendes added that he isn’t knocking 5G as a technology, as it benefits network operators by helping them support greater traffic volumes more efficiently.
“However, the benefits 5G unlocks for consumers is not obvious, not transparent,” he said.
“2G to 3G unlocked data, 3G to 4G unlocked [streaming] video, 4G to 5G unlocks nothing,” he said.
Mendes explained that while 5G connectivity offers significant benefits for enterprise purposes, operators such as Vodacom and MTN struggle to monetise their 5G networks at a consumer level.
Despite this, he said its network partners won’t charge more to let Cell C customers roam on their 5G networks.
“It’s in their interests not to charge more,” Mendes said, explaining that operators want as much traffic on their 5G networks as possible because it’s more efficient.
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