verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message cell c type private industry telecommunications headquarters randburg south africa products gsm related products and services 3g internet service provider website http www.cellc.co.za cell c a south african mobile company offers consumers a wide range of prepaid hybrid and postpaid products and services including voice data and messaging services . with its focus on affordable access cell c is the only mobile operator in south africa to offer customers free facebook and basic internet services through facebook s internet.org ; and for a capped monthly fee of r7 .50 customers have unlimited whatsapp usage . cell c was also the first in the country to commercially launch wi fi calling a service which has completely transformed the travelling experience for south africans . contents 1 shareholding 2 technology 3 challenger network 4 products and services 5 over the top players 5.1 facebook 5.2 whatsapp 6 cell c sponsorships 7 cell c foundation 8 references 9 external links shareholding edit cell c is wholly owned by 3c telecommunications which in turn is 60 % owned by oger telecom south africa a division of saudi oger ; 25 % owned by cellsaf a broad based black economic empowerment entity which represents over 30 black empowerment companies and trusts and 15 % by lanun securities sa lanun is a wholly owned subsidiary of saudi oger ltd . on 30 december 2015 the boards of cell c and 3c telecommunications accepted the share subscription offers from blue label telecoms and cell c management and staff for 35 % and 30 % respectively . current cell c shareholder 3c telecommunications will also subscribe for a number of shares to hold about 35 % of the total issued shares at the close of the transaction . technology edit cell c s range of products and services are supported by its highly advanced network which offers 2g 3g and lte services and covers 98 % of south africa s population ; the company has a roaming agreement in place with vodacom to provide 2g and 3g services to customers in outlying areas . cell c continuously invests in expanding and upgrading its network so as to offer its customers the latest technologies . in 2015 cell c announced an investment of approximately r8 billion to rollout lte across the country . the company has already launched its lte services in gauteng kwa zulu natal and the western cape and will continue its rollout across other metros . cell c started the rollout of lte advanced and has actively tested lte u lte in unlicensed spectrum showing download speeds of 600mbit s. the cell c network operates on three key bands 900 mhz 1800 mhz and 2100 mhz . challenger network edit cell c has almost tripled its customer base since 2012 acting as disruptor and pushing for regulatory changes such as lower and asymmetrical mobile termination rates . a recent study commissioned by the south african national treasury and conducted by the university of johannesburg s centre for competition regulation and economic development found that the lower termination rates introduced in 2011 has saved the south african consumer r47 billion over 5 years . 1 products and services edit besides a focus on choice cell c s offering of prepaid top up and postpaid voice data and messaging solutions are cost effective . with a focus on innovation cell c is the only south african mobile provider to offer wifi calling a service that effectively turns any wifi hotspot into an extended base station . this allows customers to make calls send text messages and check voicemail among other services no matter where they are in the world at local prices . this service is integrated into the software of the 20 handsets that support this service on the network . over the top players edit cell c in contrast to south africa s largest mobile operators has embraced services offered by over the top ott players such as whatsapp and facebook and has worked to provide its customers with cost effective solutions which incorporate these key platforms . facebook edit in july 2015 cell c became the first mobile operator in the country to offer free access to facebook and basic internet services to its customers through facebook s free basics . as of january 2016 cell c is the only operator in south africa to offer this service . whatsapp edit in another first for south african mobile customers cell c launched a free whatsapp promotion for its customers which ran for close to a year . cell c whatsapp users were able to send pictures voice messages videos and text messages via the whatsapp platform without incurring any data charges . this promotion came to an end in september 2015 when cell c introduced its r7 .50 whatsapp bundle which offers unlimited whatsapp services for a capped charge . cell c sponsorships edit in representing all of its customers cell c sponsors a range of teams and events including cell c sharks miss south africa 2015 varsity sports varsity cup and varsity shield rugby e live from the red carpet southern equatorial ferrari automobili club cell c playing for pink polo cell c johannesburg polo classic cell c foundation edit cell c has supported strategic csi initiatives since it was launched in 2001 . the cell c foundation was established towards the end of 2013 with a dedicated board . cell c s csi achievements include the following cell c take a girl child to work day now in its 14th year sees 50 000 girl learners and 520 companies participate on the day ; cell c institute of mentorship connects 40 influential sa women with 40 girl child learners ; cell c girl child bursary fund has provided 20 bursaries to deserving girl learners to date ; cell c female staff representation has increased from 47 % to 53 % since 2012 ; cell c in collaboration with the tomorrow trust and miss world 2014 and medical student rolene strauss will fundraise to train up to 100 new female doctors as part of the miss world beauty with a purpose campaign references edit barriers to entry . ccred a leading university research group . retrieved 2016 09 05 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to cell c. 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 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cell c & oldid 742466660 categories mobile phone companies of south africacompanies established in 20012001 establishments in south africaprivately held companieshidden categories articles needing additional references from april 2011all articles needing additional referencespages using infobox company with unsupported parameterscommons category with page title same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 3 october 2016 at 22 09 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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