please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message vodacom type public traded as jse vod industry telecommunications founded 1994 headquarters johannesburg south africa area served africa key people shameel joosub ceo peter moyo chairman products mobile telephony internet services revenue us 5.402 billion 2015 1 operating income us 1.27 billion 2015 1 net income us 850 million 2015 1 total assets us 4.307 billion 2015 1 total equity us 2.643 billion 2015 1 number of employees 7 786 2015 1 parent vodafone website www.vodacom.co.za vodacom group limited vodacom is an african mobile communications company providing voice messaging data and converged services to over 55 million customers . from its roots in south africa vodacom has grown its operations to include networks in tanzania the democratic republic of congo mozambique and lesotho and provides business services to customers in over 40 african countries such as nigeria zambia angola kenya ghana c te d ivoire and cameroon . it was owned on a 50 50 basis by the south african telecommunications group telkom and the british mobile phone operator vodafone . 2 3 on 6 november 2008 vodafone announced that it had agreed to increase its stake to 65 % and telkom said that it would spin off its remaining holding by listing it on the johannesburg stock exchange . 4 on april 1 2011 vodacom officially unveiled its new change in branding from blue to red using the same style as its parent company vodafone . 5 vodacom provides coverage to mount kilimanjaro which used to make it the highest point in the world to be covered by gsm . it no longer is as teliasonera now provides coverage at the top of mount everest the highest point in the world . vodacom was aided by its optimistic advertisements at the early stages of the democratic south africa this includes the yebo gogo campaign which is still in effect today in south africa . vodacom is the leading cellular network in south africa with an estimated market share of 58 % and more than 23 million customers . contents 1 technology 2 sports sponsorship 3 takeover bid for neotel 4 controversies 4.1 please call me and the constitutional court 5 member companies 6 ownership 7 smartphone launches 8 see also 9 references 10 external links technology edit vodacom provides 3g 6g and umts networks in south africa and also offers hspa 21.1 mbit s hsupa 2100 mhz 42 mbit s. wi fi wimax and lte services . vodacom was the first cellular provider to introduce lte in south africa . 1 sports sponsorship edit vodacom is a sponsor of south african sports . in provincial rugby union they are the sponsors of the pretoria based vodacom blue bulls . vodacom was the primary sponsor of the south african shelby can am series between 2000 and 2005 . in soccer they sponsor two clubs in the premier soccer league kaizer chiefs and orlando pirates . they also sponsor the south african football association and the national teams bafana bafana men amajita under 20 s and previously banyana banyana women . however mtn was the sponsor of the 2010 fifa world cup held in south africa . vodacom also owns the naming rights to several stadia among them vodacom park in bloemfontein and loftus versfeld in pretoria . takeover bid for neotel edit in october 2013 vodacom announced it would be acquiring neotel in a potential 590 million deal . 6 even though regulatory approval by the independent communications authority of south africa was obtained in 2015 the deal ultimately collapsed in march 2016 after competitors successfully challenged the transfer of neotel s licenses and spectrum to vodacom in court . 7 8 controversies edit on may 17 2009 a court dismissed a joint cosatu and icasa application to stop vodacom s jse listing . chegoane mabelane the south african article writer and prominent supporter of both african national congress and its alliance ; in one of his articles stated that the interdict to stop listing was fair . in january 2010 the sunday times alleged that alan knott craig senior former vodacom ceo helped his son alan knott craig with business ventures using vodacom resources . he also allegedly awarded a multi million rand contract to a marketing and advertising company run by family members . 9 10 11 please call me and the constitutional court edit in 2008 former employee nkosana makate took vodacom to court claiming that the profitable please call me message service was originally his invention and demanding compensation . eight years later makate eventually won his case in the constitutional court . makate will now enter negotiations with vodacom for a 15 % cut of the r70 billion he claims please call me has earned for vodacom since its inception . a 2014 judgement in the south gauteng high court supported makate s claim to having originated please call me . the court heard that in november 2000 makate had shared his idea initially termed the buzz idea with philip geissler then board member and director of product development and management at vodacom . geissler had agreed to give makate a cut should the please call me innovation prove a success . makate s witnesses presented emails sent by geissler and an article in vodacom s talk time internal newsletter which acknowledged and praised makate for his idea and his contribution to the product . 12 the court also rejected former ceo alan knott craig senior s claim that he had come up with the idea . knott craig had published the claim in his autobiography and later repeated in court that he had the idea while watching two security guards trying to communicate on phones without airtime . 13 yet the high court found against makate s claim for compensation holding vodacom s argument that geissler had not had the authority to promise makate such compensation and that the debt would have expired in legal terms been prescribed within three years . 14 makate took the case on appeal and then took it to the constitutional court . in april 2016 justice chris jafta found in makate s favour and against vodacom overturning both judgements and finding that geissler had had the authority to promise compensation and that makate s case was not based on an unpaid debt . in jafta s words in not compensating the applicant makate vodacom associated itself with the dishonourable conduct of its former ceo mr knott craig and his colleague mr geissler . this leaves a sour taste in the mouth . it is not the kind of conduct to be expected from an ethical corporate entity . 15 in an open letter to makate on facebook civic society npo right2know congratulated makate . right2know used the letter to draw attention to the hypocrisy of multinational corporations which claim to support young black south african innovators such as makate but whose anti competitive practices often strangle meaningful innovation . the letter also drew attention to the fact that south africa s telecoms duopoly vodacom mtn had led to the kind of unaffordable tariffs which made the please call me service so successful with impoverished consumers in the first place . 16 member companies edit as at march 2014 the companies that comprised the vodacom group include but are not limited to the following 17 vodacom pty limited 93.75 % shareholding south africa vodacom tanzania limited 65 % shareholding tanzania vodacom congo rdc s.p.r.l. 51 % shareholding democratic republic of congo vm sa 85 % shareholding mozambique vodacom lesotho pty limited 80 % shareholding lesotho vodacom business africa nigeria limited 100 % shareholding nigeria ownership edit the shares of vodacom group are listed and traded on the jse under the symbol vod . the shareholding in the group s stock was as depicted in the table below 17 vodacom group stock ownership rank name of owner percentage ownership 1 vodafone investments sa pty limited 65.00 2 south african government 13.91 3 others 21.09 total 100.00 smartphone launches edit vodacom will launch iphone 7 in south africa on 14 october 2016 . 18 19 vodacom has first provided the south african public with a pre order offering before the device s official local launch . see also edit telephone numbers in africa telephone numbers in south africa mtn south africa cell c 8ta references edit a b c d e f g vodacom integrated report 2015 pdf . vodacom group . retrieved 2016 04 05 . introduction page on vodacoms website . http www.vodacom.com vodacom about vodacom introduction.jsp vodacom business article by the bbc . http news.bbc.co.uk 2 hi business 4434862 . stm vodacom article by the wall street journal http online.wsj.com article sb122596655256404705.html mod googlenews wsj http www.techcentral.co.za vodacom goes red restructures its business 22265 south africa s vodacom looks to boost data with neotel purchase international reuters 2013 vodacom abandons bid to buy neotel . retrieved 2016 08 16 . vodacom neotel merger deal collapses . retrieved 2016 08 16 . knott craig denies any wrongdoing at vodacom m & g knott craig hits out at claims news24 2nd is nothing creating a multi bilion rand cellular industry by alan knott craig with eunice afonso 2009 business day makate v vodacom pty limited 08 20980 2014 zagpjhc 135 1 july 2014 . www.saflii.org . 2014 07 01 . retrieved 2016 04 28 . knott craig alan ; afonso eunice 2009 . second is nothing creating a multi billion rand cellular industry . johannesburg pan macmillan . makate v vodacom pty limited 08 20980 2014 zagpjhc 135 1 july 2014 . www.saflii.org . 2014 07 01 . retrieved 2016 04 28 . how nkosana makate won the please call me case . moneyweb.co.za . 2016 04 28 . retrieved 2016 04 28 . an open letter to nkosana makate on his victory against vodacom 28 4 2016 . facebook.com . 2016 04 28 . retrieved 2016 04 28 . a b vodacom group 2014 annual report pdf . vodacom group . march 31 2014 . retrieved december 31 2014 . writer staff . apple iphone 7 registrations on vodacom . mybroadband . mybroadband.com . retrieved 6 october 2016 . venktess kyle . iphone 7 and 7 plus available for pre order now . fin24 . fin24.com . retrieved 7 october 2016 . external links edit corporate website v t e vodafone subsidiaries and divisions albania czech republic egypt germany ghana greece hungary india ireland italy malta netherlands new zealand northern cyprus portugal qatar romania spain turkey united kingdom vodafone global enterprise kabel deutschland vodafone automotive shareholdings australia 50 % fiji 49 % kenya 40 % vodacom 65 % south africa dr congo lesotho mozambique tanzania partners afghanistan armenia austria azerbaijan bahrain belgium benin botswana bulgaria canada channel islands chile china croatia cyprus denmark dominican republic estonia faroe islands finland france guam hong kong iceland iraq japan jordan kuwait luxembourg macedonia malaysia norway northern mariana islands philippines poland russia saudi arabia serbia singapore slovenia south korea sri lanka sweden switzerland taiwan thailand turkmenistan ukraine united arab emirates uzbekistan vietnam products and services m pesa betavine corporate directors gerard kleisterlee chairman vittorio colao ceo andy halford cfo steve pusey cto michel combes ceo europe region john buchanan alan jebson samuel jonah nick land anne lauvergeon simon murray luc vandevelde tony watson philip yea sponsorships vodafone mclaren mercedes 2007 13 team vodafone 2007 12 other airtouch arcor cable & wireless worldwide cheeka ihug mannesmann verizon wireless vodafone live zoozoo category commons v t e south african telecommunication companies licensed landline companies neotel telkom sa mobile phone companies cell c mtn virgin mobile vodacom telkom mobile me & you mobile fnb connect mrp mobile major internet service providers internet solutions mweb vox telecom v t e telecommunications history beacon broadcasting cable tv