Cell C has always been a disruptor in the telecommunications market, redefining how mobile services are delivered. At its inception, Cell C challenged industry giants by offering flexible packages and cutting-edge technology without the burden of legacy infrastructure, which was a common issue among many of the large telcos of the time. This flexibility and innovation are exactly what put Cell C on the map – no small feat considering the giants it was up against.
Cell C consistently ranks among the top 30 most valuable brands in South Africa, as recognised by Kantar BrandZ, and has recently unveiled a new brand identity and a refreshed focus on customer experience and network improvements. By honing its niche and redefining its market approach, Cell C is leveraging its core strengths and a robust network of partners to build on its legacy. This strategic focus enables the company to deliver flexible, reliable and cost-effective solutions to both individual customers and businesses across South Africa, reinforcing its position as a leader in the industry. As a result, customers benefit from faster activation times and strengthened security.
This strategic pivot required more than just technology – it called for deep, trusted partnerships rooted in a shared vision of allyship and progress. These partnerships, alongside a complete business restructuring and adoption of cutting-edge technologies, are the driving force behind Cell C’s transformation in cloud, AI and networking domains.
Cloud adoption: A catalyst for growth
As one of Cell C’s key technology partners, BBD has worked with Cell C to evaluate and deploy complex hybrid-cloud services leveraging AWS’s robust service offering. As the idea is to make Cell C's new services available to all existing subscribers, this also involved meticulous migration.
At the time, cloud was still largely unknown to many organisations in South Africa, but the promise that it held as a major technology enabler is the reason that Cell C decided to invest heavily in cloud, enabling its people and testing the limits of what the cloud had promised.
Of course, developing an architecture that would allow Cell C to rapidly scale and adopt new services while remaining secure, resilient and keeping it cost-effective was top of mind, and so was knowing which services could work for each use case.
“If Cell C was going to take full advantage of the benefits of cloud and cloud-native technologies, they were going to need to try things at scale,” explains Werner de Jager, head of BBD Cloud Solutions.
“As an AWS Advanced Services Partner, this consulting, solution architecture, proof of concept, enablement and migration is ultimately what the partnership with BBD Cloud Solutions set out to do," he adds.
Initially, the goal was to see whether cloud would be a fit and to learn as much about it as possible. Having successfully implemented a complex, yet elegant, hybrid cloud environment, the goal is now to push innovation to its limits and bring on solutions that will delight each person on the other end of the SIM card.
A pivotal step in this journey was migrating CDRator, the system responsible for managing all MVNO subscribers, to AWS. This shift not only marked Cell C’s first major system to move to AWS, but also set the foundation for a scalable and resilient cloud infrastructure.
Becoming the partner of choice for MVNOs
Quite simply, Cell C has not only enlisted partners in niche areas but, through its transformation, it has also positioned itself as a leading mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE). The rise of MVNOs in South Africa has greatly expanded the choice for mobile services in the market, and by leveraging its experience and cutting-edge infrastructure, Cell C has become the backbone for eight out of 13 MVNOs in South Africa, including K’nect, Spot Mobile and others.
This success stems from its streamlined onboarding processes, reducing the timeline to launch a mobile operator from years to just six months. By combining its expertise with innovative platforms such as CDRator, VAS-X and Tenable Cloud Security, Cell C provides tailored solutions that delight end-users while maintaining operational excellence.
“Our partnership with BBD has played a crucial role in empowering our teams to think differently and scale rapidly. Together, we’re not just adopting technology, but using it to improve the lives of our customers by delivering seamless and efficient services,” says Schalk Visser, Chief Technology Officer at Cell C.
Handling 6% of South Africa’s mobile subscribers requires robust systems, meticulous planning and unwavering quality assurance. While migration and modernisation present challenges, Cell C’s relatively lean legacy infrastructure has enabled faster adoption of new technologies. BBD’s collaborative approach ensured every step was executed seamlessly, without disrupting customer experiences.
Impact of BBD’s partnership
BBD enabled Cell C to migrate critical infrastructure to AWS, manage complex hybrid cloud environments and train the company's internal team to adopt scalable, secure and cost-effective solutions. This partnership ultimately enables Cell C to modernise its hybrid cloud environment, establish robust AWS disaster recovery strategies and optimise cloud governance for improved efficiency and resilience.
Through this strategic partnership, Cell C has become a leader in leveraging AWS for its MVNO operations, earning it recognition as "the easiest MVNO to work with". This collaboration has significantly improved its operational resilience and speed-to-market capabilities. BBD has become a trusted partner in Cell C’s journey.
“We see the future as one where Cell C continues to lead through innovation, with a focus on creating meaningful change for both businesses and individuals,” adds Visser. “As we move forward, our goal is to continue to harness the power of technology to drive customer success and expand our footprint in the MVNO space, while staying committed to delivering exceptional services.”
Together, Cell C and BBD have demonstrated that innovation, when paired with the right technology and partnerships, can lead to transformative industry leadership.
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