Gotta hand it to Cell C – they know how to do marketing right. Vodacom has recently switched to a red colouring, as you might have noticed. Now how does Cell C and Trevor Noah take a bit of that attention? Watch the video below:

“It takes more than a lick of paint to be number SA’s number one network, dont you think?”

One problem though – there is a lot of chatter going on on Twitter about the much reduced speed of Cell C’s network these days. Just take a look at @louisvdm and @sarietha ‘s tweets to see what I am talking about. There has clearly been some congestion issues, especially in Stellenbosch – clearly the students have all switched to Cell C for internet.

Clearly the Cell C sticks have been selling well, but maybe too well for Cell C to handle? The pricing is still the best on the market, with not one single mobile network trying to compete. A few months ago I posted my speeds using Cell C over a period of time, but my performance has always been very good.

So in a bid to get some real life speeds from more Cell C “whoosh” users, please contribute to BandwidthBlog’s Speedwave for Cell C users. Its pretty easy, connect to the internet with your Cell C stick, and then do a Speedtest using the following link:

http://www.speedtest.net/wave/6be03c3c76bb542c

At present the results look OK, but we do want a representative sample. So lets see how everyone’s Cell C network is performing? Are you a happy customer or are you becoming a bit annoyed as well? Let us know in the comments.

Just to let you know – Cell C is doing major upgrades to its systems this weekend, so here is the full details of what is happening, and when. Kudos to Cell C for using infographics – so much better than a boring old press statement!

A few weeks ago we promised you that we would follow up our review of the Cell C Speedstick with some real world speed tests, and here you go. I ran these tests during different times, and also at a few different locations. Overall the speeds are very quick, but there is a definite spike in network speed at off peak hours, a few times my connection reached above 10Mbps, which is great considering SA still has a maximum of 10Mbps of ADSL lines…

In terms of reception I was pretty lucky – I used it in quite a few areas in the Cape Town / Bellville / Stellenbosch areas, and also to a trip to Pretoria, and not once did I have reception problems. I did however once get only EDGE reception in Durbanville (or D’Urbanvale to be precise), despite Cell C’s map indicating full HSPA reception where I was standing – maybe I should tell Trevor eh?

I also found that the reception can be very sensitive – for example at work I found that connecting the modem to a laptop above my table gave me full HSPA speed, whereas connecting to a desktop below my table gave only a WCDMA connection. Maybe your experience would be different. But to be honest – in 90% of my use I had full HSPA+ speeds.

At present I am sharing a PDF file with my Speedtest.net results so far, based on connections to Johannesburg and London. Information includes download and upload speeds, and ping times. I also check how long Youtube videos had to buffer before playing (using standard definition videos). You will also find my signal strength and location info.

• You can find my Cell C Speedstick speedtest results here (PDF).

Once again I will try to keep this updated over time…

FibreCo, a partnership between Cell C, Internet Solutions and Convergence Partners, announced today that it will be developing an open-access long-haul terrestrial fibre optic broadband network as an answer to the need for national transmission infrastructure to meet the nation’s aspirations for world-class broadband connectivity.

FibreCo brings the ability to fund, deploy and manage a cost-effective high speed long-haul fibre network which will support the explosive growth in bandwidth requirements of the country anticipated over the coming years.

Construction of the network will follow a three-phase approach and ultimately will cover a total distance in excess of 12,000km. The initial phase will focus on rolling out a 4,500km redundant core ring linking Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban to international cable landing stations within two years.

Cell C’s extensive national wireless network will provide the platform for the co-location of optical transmission equipment at their base stations as well as wireless access solutions for FibreCo’s customers. Through Internet Solutions, FibreCo has access to deep capabilities in the delivery of value-added networking solutions into the enterprise market, including facilities for the hosting of its customers optical termination equipment in urban centres. Convergence Partners contributes unmatched expertise in the development and financial structuring of large scale telecommunications infrastructure projects.

FibreCo is building a state-of-the-art managed network to deliver the most efficient route combinations and services to its customers, through the deployment of its own fibre optic cable and related infrastructure, as well as through partnerships or strategic alliances with other infrastructure providers wherever appropriate.

Up to now I have avoided signing up for 3G contracts in South Africa – despite being someone who is constantly online. True, I do add data bundles to my cellphone, but the idea of signing away 2 or 3 years to a 3G contract seems silly. It is after all such a competitive industry, why would I want to subscribe to a fixed cost for the next few years?

However, things have started to change in the last few months. It is as if someone lit a cracker underneath the cellular operators in SA – and for once it is not the Vodacom and MTN who is getting all the attention. Up until now Cell C did not really have any presence when it came to mobile broadband in SA, in fact they did not roll out 3G until recently. Clearly their late entry to into the data market has a few advantages.

Cell C uses a different payment approach – instead of signing a 24 or 36 month contract, you pay a once off fee that gives you a certain amount of data every month, for a year. This suits me perfectly – because it means in a year from now I have the freedom of choosing a different 3G service, and not be locked in. This helps Cell C as well, seeing as they can get early payment and thus pay off their investments in new supporting data infrastructure.

Cell C is currently in some trouble because they called their service “4G” up to now – which is technically speaking not true, despite being significantly faster than any other 3G offering locally. The CEO of Cell C made a public apology recently regarding this, but not without driving home the fact that Cell C is faster than even 4G networks in the US…. My opinion is that if the product works, I dont mind the name…

Currently Cell C has 2 offers using this payment model:

2GB a month for 12 months, using the included 7.2 mbps modem, for R1499.

5GB a month for 12 months, using the included 21.6 mbps modem, for R2999.

You can also buy it without the modem for somewhat less. My advice – get the modem, because there are not a lot of modems available locally which can access the applicable frequencies that Cell C uses.

Compare this to Vodacom’s current deal which charges R945 pm for 5GB, and you immediately see why this is such a good deal. Vodacom also released their Internet Starter Pack using a similar payment model, but it clearly doesn’t cater to the same higher end market as Cell C.

Included in the bundle is a modem – I used the faster 21.6 mbps one, and it’s a pretty simple looking device. Understated in black and dark brown, it looks good. The setup was easy – insert the SIM card included in the box, push out the USB plug using the slider, and plug it into your machine, be it PC or Mac. Both versions of Cell C’s software is included on the stick. Just a tip Cell C – you might want to make it available on your site, I only see the updated Windows drivers there. It tried it on both platforms.

Now Cell C has a much better deal money wise – but what are the trade offs? Up until now the high speed 3G was only available in certain urban centres, but they have clearly made a big effort to improve their data coverage. For example, I live in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, and in a low lying area that has always had pretty horrific cellular coverage. In fact my Vodacom phone still only gets Edge signal. The Cell C modem gets a full signal and very respectable performance. I also used it in Cape Town and in Bellville, and in all cases I got a full HSPA signal. So lets see how the Cell C network does.

My Speedtest results are as follows:

Local Connections: Cape Town and Johannesburg

International: UK and US

I did these tests with my unshaped 4Mbps ADSL connection as well afterwards, and the speeds were never the same, only reaching 3.5 Mbps maximum of course, but with ever so slightly faster ping times.

The tests were done over the weekend, so your speeds during business hours might differ. I will add them to this post soon. Of course the major concern is whether these speeds will be sustained once more people start using the network – and it is a valid concern. After all, Neotel also had very respectable wireless speeds when they first launched, but quickly that speed disappeared.

So here is what we will do – for the next 12 months I will occasionally post my speed results using the Cell C network, and in a variety of uses. (Update: You can find my first batch Cell C Speedtest results here) Only time will tell whether Cell C can deliver on their promise.

One has to applaud Cell C for the way they are heating up the mobile broadband market – finally some clear competition has arrived after years of very slow price decreases. With all the additional fibre running into SA recently, we have all been promised more affordable internet, and it seems we are inching closer and closer towards that. Cell C is also involved with this fibre rollout with Fibreco. Maybe this means that Cell C will become a dominant player in SA Broadband…

Keep it up Cell C.

Competition is a wonderful thing. Just last week I commented on the lack of competition in the market since 8ta announced their new call and data rates, and finally Vodacom has come out with their guns blazing. But their latest broadband “starter pack” is perhaps rather aimed at Cell C’s offering of either 2GB per 12 months for R1499 once off or the 5GB per 12 month for R2999 (which also gets a faster connection). Both of these include the modems needed.

Vodacom is aiming at the lower end of the market – users will pay only R400 once off, which includes a 3G modem and 100 meg per month for 12 months. While 100 meg might sound like much, this is ideal for very light users of the internet. Users can of course add bundles if the 100 meg runs out. This aimed at either people for whom computing is not a major concern, or people who already have wifi access at home and work, and need something for those times when you are on the road. What I am wondering about as well – does the 100MB included carry over if not used?

What puzzles me as well is that Vodacom can offer this great pricing, yet still asks R88 for 110 MB data bundles? Also – how about more options? 100MB is a bit light in my opinion, and I want to see how Vodacom can compete with Cell C, which is still the best offering for users who want to actually use their computers a bit more on the road.

Source: Mybroadband