Operational performance
This year, we made significant progress in building an intelligent, connectivity platform where technology, data and innovation work together to deliver new growth opportunities.
As Cell C enters its next phase of growth, we will strengthen our human capital productivity by driving AI adoption, investing in leadership capability and young talent, future skills and employee wellbeing while embedding a culture that empowers people to perform at their best. We invest in the development of internal talent pipelines, employee wellbeing, and The Unstoppable Way culture, while positioning Cell C as a leading employer to attract, develop and retain the skills needed to deliver our 2030 strategic ambitions.
Cell C has made significant progress in executing its people strategy during its turnaround and preparations for its listing. Taken together, Cell C's lean structure, maturing talent governance, strengthened development pipelines, high employee engagement and wellbeing systems provide a credible base for building the future-fit capability required for platform growth, automation and sustained value creation. Our ambition is to build a workplace where talented individuals can grow, contribute meaningfully and help shape the future of Cell C.
Operational highlights for 2026
Technology
Through the MOCN model, we can access approximately 29 000 sites across South Africa, improving network availability, coverage and service quality.
We expanded our VoLTE, core network and 5G capabilities. 5G availability expanded through more than 7 500 partner network sites.
Continued progress on next-generation billing transformation.
Customer growth
Cell C subscribers increased 17% year-on-year to 8.9 million, while MVNO HLR subscribers increased 27% year-on-year to 5.7 million.
Data traffic volumes increased 47% year-on-year.
In-store experience
44 stores were refreshed in line with our brand revamp, contributing to improved sales performance.
5 stores franchised, bringing our total franchise network to 65 stores.
Operational excellence
Improved AI adoption across business functions. Strengthened enterprise data governance framework.
Continued simplification and modernisation of technology architecture.
Customer experience
Our NPS increased from 19 in 2025 to 33 in 2026, closing the financial year at an all-time high and underscoring improved customer satisfaction and advocacy.
Enhanced digital self-service capability and customer journeys.
Growth platforms
Cell C Business launched in March 2026 to reposition Cell C as an ICT solutions provider offering integrated business services.
Expansion of cloud and managed services capability offering. Continued growth in MVNO platform subscribers.
Technology
A modern, resilient technology platform is fundamental to our ambition of becoming South Africa’s most agile, capital-efficient connectivity platform.
Our technology strategy and roadmap are developed as an integral component of Cell C’s broader strategic planning process. Technology leaders collaborate with business units, executive management and technology partners to ensure that technology projects support our business priorities. Three primary considerations shape the technology roadmap:
- Business requirements and strategic priorities.
- Emerging technologies and industry trends.
- Opportunities created through strategic technology partnerships.
Over the past five years, the technology strategy has evolved considerably. The initial priority was to stabilise network performance and improve customer experience by implementing the MOCN model. Once these foundations were established, attention shifted towards modernising our underlying technology architecture, strengthening data capabilities and preparing the company to leverage AI. Over recent years, Cell C has:
- Replaced its legacy prepaid billing platform.
- Modernised its core telecommunications network.
- Introduced cloud-native technologies.
- Strengthened data and analytics capabilities
- Expanded network capacity to support growing wholesale demand.
- Enhanced digital customer channels
Our investments in modern technologies provide significantly greater flexibility than legacy systems. Modern platforms allow new products and services to be configured and launched more rapidly, reduce development cycles and enable the business to respond more quickly to changing customer needs. Technology modernisation also supports scalability as customer volumes continue to grow across the Prepaid, Postpaid, Wholesale and MVNO businesses. Today, technology investment is focused on enabling scalable digital growth while maintaining operational resilience.
Technology has become a strategic enabler of Cell C’s long-term competitiveness. Beyond supporting network operations, technology investments increasingly underpin customer experience, business agility, employee productivity, partner enablement and the company’s ability to bring new products and services to market faster.
Cell C works closely with global technology providers across cloud infrastructure, core network technologies, analytics platforms, cybersecurity and digital enablement. These partnerships provide access to leading technologies while supporting faster innovation, greater scalability and improved efficiencies.
Looking ahead to 2027
Cell C will continue to invest in technology transformation. Key priorities include:
- Complete next-generation billing transformation
- Scale VoLTE, VoWiFi and next-generation voice
- Continue modernising core network and expanding 5G
- Explore AI use cases across the company
- Strengthen cloud-native platforms and hybrid cloud
- Develop technology platforms supporting MVNOs
- Simplify customer journeys and accelerate innovation
- Continued investment in cybersecurity and operational resilience
Technology focus areas for 2026
MOCN model
Historically, Cell C operated approximately 5 503 radio sites. Following a fundamental redesign of its operating model beginning in 2021, Cell C virtualised its radio access network through network partnerships while retaining ownership and control of the core telecommunications network. Following the completion of the MOCN model in June 2023, Cell C has access to approximately 29 000 sites across South Africa, dramatically improving network availability, coverage and service quality without the capital intensity associated with building and maintaining physical network infrastructure.
The MOCN model enables Cell C to prioritise investments that directly improve customer experience, operational agility and long-term competitiveness.
Network resilience
Maintaining a resilient and reliable network is fundamental to delivering a superior customer experience. Cell C’s robust technology architecture comprises geographically redundant data centres, resilient core network infrastructure, business continuity planning and multiple transmission routes to support service continuity and minimise disruption.
These capabilities are complemented by the MOCN model, which improves coverage and provides an additional layer of resilience, enabling customers to remain connected when one network experiences service interruptions. Together, these capabilities strengthen operational resilience and support the delivery of secure, reliable and high-quality connectivity services. Our data traffic increased 47% year-on-year, while our voice traffic declined 4% year-on-year.
Network modernisation projects
Cell C continued to transform its technology environment to strengthen network performance, improve customer experience and support future growth.
VoLTE
The new nextgeneration voice platform became operational, enabling customers to benefit from enhanced voice quality, faster call set-up times and improved network efficiency. By year-end, approximately 700 000 customers were actively using VoLTE, with almost 850 000 subscribers provisioned. VoLTE integration for additional MVNO partners also progressed during the year.
CEM platform
To enhance service quality, Cell C implemented its CEM platform, providing real-time visibility of network performance and customer experience across the network. The CEM platform will provide increasingly rich insights that enable proactive performance management and continuous service optimisation.
5G rollout
We expanded access to 5G services through strategic network partnerships. By year-end, through our network partners, more than 7 500 5G sites were made available to Cell C customers, significantly expanding nationwide 5G coverage. Continued software upgrades and customer migrations supported the growing adoption of 5G-enabled services.
Core network
We invested to strengthen the core network. Capacity in the company’s core network elements was significantly expanded by commissioning new platforms in Gauteng data centres, improving scalability and supporting growing customer and MVNO traffic. Regional core network upgrades commenced in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal to improve network latency, increase download speeds and enhance overall service performance.
Billing system
The next-generation billing transformation is one of Cell C’s most significant technology modernisation initiatives. We continued to replace legacy billing platforms with a cloud-enabled solution that provides greater flexibility, scalability and automation. The programme will enable faster product development, simplify customer journeys, accelerate the introduction of new products and services, and strengthen operational efficiency.
Cloud strategy, AI and cybersecurity
Cell C has adopted a pragmatic, business-led cloud strategy using cloud technologies where they deliver clear operational, commercial and scalability benefits rather than a dogmatic cloud-first approach. In Artificial Intelligence, enterprise AI solutions automate routine tasks, streamline administrative work and assist traffic optimisation and credit operations. Our cybersecurity aligns with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, audited by the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.
Technology modernisation
Technology modernisation remains a key lever for improving operational efficiency across the business. Through automation, platform simplification, cloud adoption and enhanced data capabilities, Cell C continues to reduce complexity, improve execution discipline and strengthen its ability to scale sustainably. These initiatives support a leaner, more agile organisation while enabling teams to focus on activities that create greater value for customers and shareholders.
Cloud strategy
Cell C has adopted a pragmatic, business-led cloud strategy, using cloud technologies where they deliver clear operational, commercial and scalability benefits, rather than pursuing a cloud-first approach. Certain workloads are well-suited to cloud platforms as they benefit from elasticity, scalability and consumption-based pricing. At the same time, other mission-critical telecommunications functions are better suited to cloud-native infrastructure hosted within Cell C’s own data centres. This hybrid approach and the use of several cloud providers allow Cell C to benefit from cloud computing while maintaining performance, security and cost efficiency.
Artificial Intelligence
AI offers significant opportunities to enhance productivity, customer experience and operational performance. As effective AI depends on high-quality data and scalable technology foundations, Cell C has focused on building the underlying capabilities required before deploying AI at scale. As adoption expands, Cell C will ensure that human oversight remains central to decision-making while maintaining appropriate governance and risk controls.
Enterprise AI platforms are improving employee productivity, supporting knowledge management and streamlining routine administrative activities. Specialist AI tools are also being deployed within analytics, legal, finance and technology functions to improve efficiency and support more informed decision-making. AI is also increasingly supporting customer-facing applications, including network traffic optimisation, credit operations and intelligent service management.
During the year, Cell C expanded the adoption of enterprise AI solutions to improve productivity, knowledge management and decision-making across multiple functions. These capabilities are helping employees automate routine activities, accelerate content creation, improve access to information and support data-driven decision-making. As adoption continues to increase, AI is expected to play an increasingly important role in unlocking operational efficiencies and supporting scalable growth.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity remains a strategic priority for Cell C as the threat landscape continues to evolve. Our multi-layered cybersecurity programme combines robust governance, internationally recognised frameworks, employee awareness and ongoing investment to strengthen cyber resilience.
Cell C aligns its cybersecurity programme with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework, and we continually enhance our ability to respond to evolving cyber threats, including those enabled by AI. We assess our maturity across the framework’s key elements, set target maturity levels and monitor improvement initiatives over time. Progress against these initiatives is reported to the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. Recognising that people remain the first line of defence, we invest in employee awareness, phishing simulations and targeted training to strengthen our security culture.
