Cell C, Telkom SA sign 3G roaming deal

South African wireless operator Cell C has renegotiated its roaming agreement with Vodacom South Africa, thus extending its access to the latter’s 3G network, TechCentral reports. The new roaming agreement is effective retrospectively from 1 June 2015, while 3G switch-on is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos was cited as saying: ‘This agreement allows Cell C to provide a seamless experience to our customers, even those in outlying areas where we have limited coverage … Cell C customers in those areas will now also have access to internet technologies on Vodacom’s 3G network’. The executive added that the newly negotiated agreement with Vodacom will not affect Cell C’s planned investment in its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. As previously reported by CommsUpdate in April 2015, the company is planning to invest ZAR8 billion (USD667.2 million) over the next three years in order to build a 4G network in ‘targeted areas’ across South Africa, including Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Western Cape.