TCS | Rebooting Cell C: Jorge Mendes sets out his strategic plan

Loading player...
Jorge Mendes has been in the hot seat at Cell C for just over a year, and the turnaround at the long-troubled mobile operator is starting to gain traction.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show (TCS), Mendes sits down with TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod for a detailed interview in which he provides an update on what’s happened in the past year at Cell C, paints of a picture of the state of the business today, and sets out what comes next for the mobile operator.
To signal the management team’s intentions, and to declare the business is on a new strategic footing and is in the market for the long term, Cell C recently refreshed its brand identity and signalled its intention to take back market share from its bigger rivals.
In this episode of TCS, Mendes tackles a range of questions, including:
• Why he left what seemed to be a plum job at Vodacom to take on the difficult challenge of turning around Cell C;
• What went through his mind in the first few days on the job;
• Cell C’s plan to recapture the title of third largest mobile operator from Telkom – and to take the fight to MTN and Vodacom;
• Why Cell C has struggled to compete, how it accumulated huge amounts of debt and why the new strategy is its best but last chance of success;
• The state of Cell C’s finances – and especially its balance sheet – following the recent recapitalisation led by its largest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms;
• His relationship with Blue Label founders and co-CEOs Brett Levy and Mark Levy;
• The role of regulatory support, especially in call termination;
• Why Cell C handed back the spectrum it secured in the 2022 spectrum auction, and its plans for participation in future auctions;
• The role of mobile virtual network operators and wholesale services in Cell C’s recovery plan; and
• Cell C’s strategy to capture more of the lucrative contract market.
There’s plenty more in the interview with Mendes – don’t miss the conversation!
13 Sep 2024 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

TCS | PayInc CEO Stephen Linnell on South Africa's payments revolution

South Africa’s payments ecosystem is evolving at a rapid pace. PayInc – previously BankservAfrica – sits at the core of the country’s payments infrastructure. As the builder and manager of the PayShap instant payment rails, PayInc is central to the Reserve Bank’s plans to drive digital inclusion through payment modernisation…
25 Sep 25 min

TCS+ | LSD Open: why repatriating from the cloud can be a costly mistake

Not every organisation that has migrated to the cloud has reaped the rewards promised in terms of faster development and deployment cycles, simplified infrastructure management, and most importantly, a reduction in costs. Some are going as far as repatriating their infrastructure back into on-premises environments, perhaps because they understand it…
23 Sep 21 min

TCS | From lockdown idea to global player: The Invigilator bags $11-million funding

The Invigilator, the developer of a South African application that helps educational institutions monitor web-based assessments to prevent cheating, recenty secured US$11-million (R195-million) in funding to help it expand internationally. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Nicolas Riemer, co-founder and CEO of The Invigilator, joins TechCentral’s Nkosinathi Ndlovu to…
23 Sep 35 min