Vodacom's RICA woes are behind it, as it added new subscribers to its South African base and grew market share in the first half of the year.
The SIM card registration Act, or the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act, requires all cellular operators to register their subscribers' identity numbers and proof of residence, or cut them off from the network.
Initially, operators had 18 months until the end of December to register customers, but an extension is in the pipeline, which may give them another six months.
Speaking today at the company's results presentation for the six months to September, CEO Pieter Uys said the local customer base has finally recovered from the effects of the Act.
For the first time in several months, gross connections again reached a million in September, he noted.
Disconnections
In the first half of the year, Vodacom added five million gross connections to its network and now has 23.8 million subscribers. However, this figure is 15.4% lower than the 28.2 million subscribers the company had a year ago.
Uys says the churn rate is mostly higher due to the compounded effects of RICA and the fact that Vodacom cut 3.3 million inactive subscribers from its base during the half-year. These inactive customers had voice-mail call forwarding, and did not pick up their messages.
Contract customers, at 4.8 million, now make up a fifth of the company's customer base. Uys says Vodacom aims to up-sell prepaid customers and move them onto contracts.
Vodacom has now registered three-quarters of its local customer base and Uys is hopeful a deadline extension will be announced soon. Last week, an amendment to the Act was gazetted, which - if passed by Parliament - will give operators until 11 June to register customers.
The South African unit grew revenue 5.4% to R25.7 billion, despite a R800 million loss in revenue due to lower interconnect rates.
Share
