The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has issued a licence to Cell C to operate the third cellular network, after a delay in handing over the document last week.
Although the company is still waiting for a frequency spectrum licence, which will give it access to the spectrum needed to operate, the operational licence assigns it the 084 number prefix and a 15-year period to operate GSM services.
As expected, Cell C is to pay a R100 million licence fee and an annual fee of 1% of net operational income. The 1% payment is fixed for the first five years of operation.
As with other telecommunications licences, the document calls for Cell C to maintain certain minimum standards of network availability and call completion. It also requires the new network to cover at least 8% of the geographic area of the country and at least 60% of the population within five years of launch.
That network, combined with a roaming agreement with one of the incumbents, is to cover no less than 40% of the geographic area and 80% of the population in the same time.
Cell C must also provide 52 000 community telephones within seven years, and a minimum of 40% of the company must be owned by groups or individuals from a previously disadvantaged background.
The Cell C holding company, 3C Telecommunications, is 40% owned by empowerment consortium Cellsaf and 60% by Saudi Oger.
Cell C, which has been working with ICASA in developing the exact criteria for its licence, welcomed the issuing of the licence.
"We now have the formal licence to commence operation with certainty, in full recognition of our rights and obligations," said CEO Talaat Laham in a statement.
In its statement, ICSA said the new network would go a long way towards contributing to the development of the economy. "ICASA is hopeful that the increased competition introduced by the licensing of a third mobile operator will improve the level and quality of service to consumers," it said.
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