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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | South Africa |
| Key people | Pieter Uys, CEO |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Products | GSM-related products Internet services |
| Website | www.vodacom.co.za |
Vodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, and was the first cellular network in South Africa. It provides GSM service to more than 35 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Revenue for the year ended 31 March 2008 was 48.178 billion South African Rand. It was owned on a 50:50 basis by the South African telecommunications group Telkom and the British mobile phone operator Vodafone. [1][2] On 6 November 2008 Vodafone announced that it had agreed to increase its stake to 65%, and Telkom said that it would spin off its remaining holding by listing it on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. [3]
Vodacom provides coverage to Mount Kilimanjaro, which used to make it the highest point in the world to be covered by GSM. It no longer is, as China Mobile now provides coverage at the top of Mt. Everest, the highest point in the world. Vodacom was aided by its optimistic advertisements at the early stages of the democratic South Africa, this includes the yebo gogo campaign which is still in effect today in South Africa. Vodacom is the leading cellular network in South Africa with an estimated market share of 58% and more than 23 million customers.
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Technology
Vodacom was also the first provider to deploy a 3G (third generation) or UMTS network in South Africa and is also offering HSDPA 3.6 Mbit/s and HSUPA (2100 GHz). In terms of other technology Vodacom has its hand in Wi-Fi,WiMAX and LTE. Vodacom to date is upgrading the whole South African system to introduce these new technology.
Other Services
Yebo4less : Vodacom new price plans offers massive discounts of up to 99% on voice and video calls to all networks depending on the time of day and the location. Additionally, you get a guaranteed minimum 50% off call during off-peak and weekends
BlackBerry services, Instant messaging, MMS, SMS, Video Calling, sms/data bundles, e-mail, look4it, backup, mobile tv are some of the services of Vodacom
Sports sponsorship
Vodacom is a sponsor of South African sports. In rugby union, they are the sponsors for three teams (Pretoria-based Vodacom Blue Bulls, Bloemfontein-based Vodacom Free State Cheetahs, and Cape Town-based Vodacom Western Province) in the provincial Currie Cup competition.
In soccer they sponsor the two clubs in the Professional Soccer League, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, as well as Bloemfontein Celtic. They also sponsor the South African Football Association and the national teams Bafana Bafana (men), Banyana Banyana (women) and Amajita (under 20's). MTN is the sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa.
Vodacom also owns the naming rights to several stadia, among them Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein, Newlands Stadium in Cape Town and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
References
- ^ Introduction Page on Vodacoms Website. http://www.vodacom.com/vodacom/about_vodacom/introduction.jsp
- ^ Vodacom Business article by the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4434862.stm
- ^ Vodacom article by the Wall Street Journel http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122596655256404705.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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External links
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