MTN South Africa and Cell C have not reached agreement on certain matters in their long business relationship, MTN said on Monday. The issues will now be handled through the steps set out in the agreement between the two companies.
MTN shared the news in a trading update for the nine months to September. It did not say which matters are in dispute or which process will be used to settle them.
“MTN SA and Cell C have engaged extensively on the terms of their longstanding commercial relationship but have not reached agreement on certain matters,” MTN said in the update.
MTN said talks on the terms of the relationship going forward were still going on. It said it would give a further update when appropriate. TechCentral reported that it had sent questions to both MTN and Cell C.
The deal matters a lot to Cell C. The country’s fourth-largest mobile operator does not run its own radio network. It relies on roaming deals with MTN and Vodacom, which also give its customers access to 5G sites from both operators.
Under the current setup, MTN builds and runs a radio network that uses Cell C’s spectrum. That network carries Cell C’s prepaid traffic and the traffic of virtual operators on Cell C. In return, MTN gets to use part of that spectrum, which it pools with its own.
TechCentral reported in September that this setup was already being renegotiated. MTN did not say whether Monday’s statement is linked to it.
MTN earns money from other operators that roam on its network. MTN South Africa’s wholesale revenue grew by 10.4% in the nine months. National roaming rose by 13% and international roaming by 41.5%. Growth slowed to 3.9% in the third quarter because of lower traffic from major wholesale customers, MTN said. It did not name those customers.
The two companies also compete for virtual network operators, known as MVNOs. These are brands such as Capitec Connect that sell mobile services on another company’s network. Cell C believes it hosts 80% to 85% of South Africa’s MVNO market.
Cell C’s wholesale division grew revenue by 20% to R1.76 billion in the year to May. It reached 5.71 million MVNO lines.
MTN has said it wants to become the leading MVNO wholesaler in the country. MTN South Africa CEO Ferdi Moolman told TechCentral in September that the company was changing its wholesale prices. MVNOs would be able to buy cheaper capacity at a lower quality.
“If you want high quality, you need to pay a premium price,” Moolman said at MTN’s capital markets day in June.
Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes argued in August that MTN and Vodacom cannot easily compete hard for MVNO business. He said low wholesale prices would cost them their own retail customers.
MTN South Africa’s service revenue was flat in the third quarter and up 1% for the nine months. This was below the company’s growth target. Its prepaid customer base fell by 6.9% year on year to 27.4 million. Cost cuts lifted its third quarter Ebitda margin to 38.1%.
Cell C listed on the JSE in November 2025. Mendes bought R20.8 million worth of the company’s shares in September.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.