Cell C and MTN will share the lucrative multibillion-rand contract to deliver mobile communication services to government.
Cell C announced today it is the second service provider
appointed to service the contract, known as RT15-2021, which will run until 2026 and was previously held exclusively by Vodacom for a five-year period.
The announcement by Cell C comes on the back of a similar advisory from MTN yesterday that National Treasury had also assigned it to provide
services under the same contract.In February last year, National Treasury called on the telecommunications industry to supply it with mobile communication services for government.
With the deal, civil servants will get uncapped mobile Internet access, and the new ‘transversal’ contract is expected to assist in the reduction of expenditure on mobile communication services.
Among other stipulations, there was a set limit of mobile spend per civil servant of a maximum of R500/month.
Cell C, which is implementing
a turnaround strategy, welcomed the opportunity to provide government with services.
“This award marks a significant milestone for Cell C and is testament to our understanding of the needs of government and tailoring innovative solutions that matter to them, with extra value. It reflects the confidence in our brand and the tenacity of the company. I’m extremely proud of the effort our team put into Cell C’s proposal,” says Douglas Craigie Stevenson, Cell C CEO.
The mobile operator says National Treasury commended Cell C’s commitment to local supplier development and corporate social investment initiatives.
“Leveraging our network strategy as a significant wholesale aggregator and through our roaming agreements with infrastructure providers, Cell C met the minimum 80% network population coverage nationwide as required in the tender,” adds Cell C chief commercial officer Simo Mkhize.
“No longer is Cell C’s focus on networks; it is about collaboration, innovative products and services and better understanding its customers. This is good for competition.”
