South African wireless operator Cell C has revealed the subscriber numbers for Red Bull Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that piggybacks on its network. Jose Dos Santos, Cell C’s chief commercial officer, commented: ‘Red Bull Mobile has made steady progress since its launch in South Africa. The current base is in excess of 120,000 customers and continues to grow’.
The MVNO, which launched in February 2011 and is technically a joint venture with Cell C, became the country’s second virtual operator after Virgin Mobile South Africa, which is also reliant on Cell C’s network for its connectivity needs. Although Virgin has been around since 2006, its subscriber base is thought to be under 400,000. Meanwhile, in January this year Sebastien Crozier, the managing director of the Orange Group’s ‘Orange Horizons’ unit, indicated that the French telecoms giant is keen to enter the South African mobile market as soon as the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has successfully formulated regulations that it believes will better govern relationships between network operators and MVNOs.