Cell C’s chief executive officer (CEO) Alan Knott-Craig has repeated the suggestion he made last year that the South African operator’s future may be reliant on joining forces with another major telecom.
In an interview that appeared in the Sunday Times yesterday, Knott-Craig said: “When I look ahead, at some stage Cell C will be part of a bigger group, or a smaller group will join us and we become a bigger group.”
The mobile supremo pointed to the current saturation of the market which includes Vodacom, MTN, 8ta, Telkom Mobile and Neotel as well as Cell C for the reason which would prompt consolidation.
In the past few months, the South African mobile industry has seen its most intense price war yet.
Cell C, which has the third largest share of the market, has continually led the way in reducing prices but it also laid off a number of staff last month.
Knott-Craig said: “When the market saturates and there are too many players for that market, there’s only one thing to do and that is consolidate.”
The government has yet to come up with a plan to halt Telkom’s fall, which is 30 per cent owned by the state.
HumanIPO reported earlier this month, Telkom had warned its shareholders they should expect an at least 20 per cent fall in headline earnings per share (HEPS).
The obvious partner for Cell C appears to be 8ta, one of two mobile arm’s of Telkom.
Telkom’s commitment to the brand is questionable however after it performed a confusing u-turn last month on whether or not it would continue it revert solely to its Telkom Mobile platform, aimed at higher-end users.
