Vodacom Group
Limited is a South-Western African
mobile communications company, providing
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
,
messaging,
data
In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...
and
converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
, Vodacom has grown its operations to include networks in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, and
Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...
, and provides
business services to customers in over 32 African countries, including
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
,
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
,
Angola
, national_anthem = "Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordinat ...
,
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
,
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...
,
Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre ...
, and
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...
.
History
It was owned in a 50/50 partnership by the South African telecommunications giant
Telkom and British multinational operator
Vodafone
Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
, Vod ...
. On 6 November 2008, Vodafone announced that it had agreed to increase its stake to 64.5%, and Telkom said that it would spin off its remaining holding by listing it on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
On 1 April 2011, Vodacom officially unveiled its new change in branding from blue to red, using the same style as its parent company, Vodafone.
Vodacom provides coverage to
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...
, which was the highest point in the world to be covered by
GSM, until
Axiata (through its subsidiary
Ncell) provided coverage at the top of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow hei ...
, the highest point in the world. Vodacom was aided by its optimistic advertisements at the early stages of the democratic South Africa, including the ''yebo gogo'' campaign which is still in effect today in Africa. Vodacom is the leading cellular network in South Africa with an estimated market share of 58% and more than 103 million customers across Africa.
Technology
Vodacom South Africa provides
3G,
4G, and
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the In ...
networks in South Africa, and also offers
HSPA+
Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication. It is the second phase of HSPA which has been introduced in 3GPP release 7 and being further improved in later 3GPP ...
(21.1 Mbit/s),
HSUPA (42 Mbit/s, 2100 MHz), Wi-Fi,
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMAX ...
, and
LTE services. Vodacom was the first cellular provider to introduce LTE in South Africa.
On 21 October 2015, Vodacom launched its fibre product to the home user. On 7 April 2017, Vodacom's
4G+ network in
Brooklyn Mall
Brooklyn Mall is a shopping mall in Brooklyn, Pretoria, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that s ...
,
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...
achieved 240 Mbit/s in a speed test. In early 2020 Vodacom also became the second network operator in Africa to launch a live 5G network, initially available in Johannesburg, Pretoria and
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
.
Sports sponsorships
Vodacom is a sponsor of many South African sports.
In provincial
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
, they are the sponsors of the
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...
-based Vodacom
Blue Bulls and own the
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of ...
to the union's home stadium,
Loftus Versfeld.
As part of their rugby union sponsorship portfolio, Vodacom has been the title sponsor of the
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
tournament in South Africa since 1996.
In
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
, they sponsor two clubs in the
Premier Soccer League: the
Kaizer Chiefs
Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Ch ...
and
Orlando Pirates. They also sponsor the
South African Football Association
The South African Football Association (colloquially known as SAFA) is the national administrative governing body that controls the sport of football in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and is a member of the Confederation of African Footb ...
and the national teams
Bafana Bafana
The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and it is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for Soccer in South Africa. The team's nickname is Bafana Bafana (The Boys/G ...
(men), Amajita (under 20s), and previously
Banyana Banyana
The South Africa women's national soccer team, nicknamed ''Banyana Banyana'' (The Girls), is the national team of South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association.
Their first official match was held on 30 May 1993 agai ...
(women). However, competitor
MTN was one of the sponsors of the
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
held in South Africa.
Past sponsorships include the national rugby union team, the
Springboks, from 1994 to 2017, and the South African
Shelby Can-Am series between 2000 and 2005.
Controversies
JSE listing
On May 17, 2009, a court dismissed a joint
Congress of South African Trade Unions
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union expelled ...
(COSATU) and ICASA application to stop Vodacom's JSE listing. Chegoane Mabelane, the South African article writer and prominent supporter of both
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
(ANC) and its alliance; in one of his articles stated that the
interdict to stop the listing was fair.
In January 2010, the ''Sunday Times'' alleged that
Alan Knott-Craig (Senior), former Vodacom CEO, helped his son,
Alan Knott-Craig with business ventures using Vodacom's resources. He also allegedly awarded a multimillion-rand contract to a marketing and advertising company run by his family members.
"Please Call Me"
In 2008, former employee
Nkosana Makate took Vodacom to court, claiming that the profitable "
Please Call Me" message service was originally his invention and demanding compensation. Eight years later, Makate eventually won his case in the
Constitutional Court. Makate then entered negotiations with Vodacom for a 15% cut of the R70 billion ($ billion) he claims "Please Call Me" has earned for Vodacom since its inception.
A 2014 judgement in the
South Gauteng High Court
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria ...
supported Makate's claim to having originated "Please Call Me." The court heard that, in November 2000, Makate had shared his idea (initially termed the "buzz" idea) with Philip Geissler, then board member and director of product development and management at Vodacom. Geissler had agreed to give Makate a cut should the "Please Call Me" innovation prove a success (however, there was no such agreement, written, oral, or implied – and no evidence to support it). Makate's witnesses presented emails sent by Geissler (Geissler was never called to
testify by either party, raising suspicion that both parties would not have benefited from what Geissler would say under oath) and an article in Vodacom's "Talk Time" internal newsletter (such newsletter was written, edited, and printed by a third party in Cape Town) which acknowledged and praised Makate for his idea and his contribution to the product.
The court also rejected former CEO
Alan Knott-Craig's claim that he had come up with the idea. Knott-Craig had published the claim in his autobiography, and later repeated in court, that he had the idea while watching two security guards trying to communicate on phones without airtime. Yet the High Court found against Makate's claim for compensation, holding Vodacom's argument that Geissler had not had the authority to promise Makate such compensation and that the debt would have expired (in legal terms, been prescribed) within three years.
Makate took the case on
appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
, and then took it to the
Constitutional Court. In April 2016, Justice
Chris Jafta found in Makate's favour and against Vodacom, overturning both judgements by the High Court, finding that Geissler had the authority to promise compensation, and that Makate's case was not based on an unpaid debt. In Jafta's words: “In not compensating the applicant
akate ��.Vodacom associated itself with the dishonourable conduct of its former CEO, Mr Knott-Craig and his colleague, Mr Geissler, and this leaves a sour taste in the mouth. It is not the kind of conduct to be expected from an ethical corporate entity.”
In an
open letter to Makate on Facebook, civic society non-profit
Right2Know congratulated Makate. Right2Know used the letter to draw attention to the
hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...
of multinational corporations which claim to support young black South African innovators such as Makate, but whose anti-competitive practices often strangle meaningful innovation. The letter also drew attention to the fact that South Africa's telecommunications
duopoly
A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...
(Vodacom–MTN) had led to the kind of unaffordable tariffs which made the "Please Call Me" service so successful with impoverished consumers in the first place.
Neotel attempted takeover
In October 2013, Vodacom announced it would be acquiring
Neotel
Neotel, previously SNO Telecommunications, is the second national operator (SNO) for fixed line telecommunication services in South Africa. It was unveiled on 31 August 2006 in Kyalami in northern Johannesburg. Neotel is South Africa's first dir ...
in a potential US$590 million deal. Even though regulatory approval by the
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the ICASA Act to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the publ ...
(ICASA) was obtained in 2015, the deal ultimately collapsed in March 2016 after competitors successfully challenged the transfer of Neotel's licenses and spectrum to Vodacom in court.
Member companies
As at March 2014, the companies that comprised the Vodacom Group include, but are not limited to the following:
Ownership
The shares of Vodacom Group are listed and traded on the JSE, under the
ticker symbol: VOD. The shareholding in the group's stock was as depicted in the table below in May 2022.
Institutional investors include, in order of held stock, the
Public Investment Corporation
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is a South African state-owned entity (SOCNational Government of South Africa''Public Investment Corporation SOC Ltd (PIC)'' on www.nationalgovernment.co.za) with R2.339 trillion (USD 145 Billion) o ...
(also known as PIC, wholly owned by the South African Government),
Lazard (US),
Blackrock (US),
The Vanguard Group
The Vanguard Group, Inc. is an American registered investment advisor based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with about $7 trillion in global assets under management, as of January 13, 2021. It is the largest provider of mutual funds and the second-l ...
(US),
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (also known as GIC,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
),
Old Mutual (ZA), Abax (ZA),
Sanlam (ZA), and
State Street Global Advisors
State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is the investment management division of State Street Corporation and the world's fourth largest asset manager, with nearly $4.14 trillion (USD) in assets under management as of 31 December 2021.
The comp ...
(US).
Smartphone launches
Vodacom launched
iPhone 7 in South Africa on 14 October 2016. It launched the
iPhone Xs and
Xs Max on 28 September 2018 starting at R21,999 ($1,650) on a 24 month contract.
The
Samsung Galaxy S8
The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ are Android smartphones produced by Samsung Electronics as the eighth generation of the Samsung Galaxy S series. The S8 and S8+ were unveiled on 29 March 2017 and directly succeeded the Samsung G ...
was officially launched on 5 May 2017.
In 2017,
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical.
Goi ...
reported that Vodacom partnered with GameMine in a $20 million deal to install subscription-based mobile games on Vodacom's smartphones.
See also
*
Telephone numbers in Africa
The following are country calling codes in Africa.
States and territories with country calling codes
west Africa
States and territories without a country calling code
See also
*Telephone numbering plan
*List of country calling codes
*List of i ...
*
Telephone numbers in South Africa
South Africa switched to a closed numbering system effective 16 January 2007. At that time, it became mandatory to dial the full 10-digit telephone number, including the zero in the three-digit area code, for local calls (e.g., 011 must be ...
*
MTN (South Africa)
MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...
*
Cell C
Cell C Limited (stylised as Cell ©) is as a private mobile operator based in Sandstone, South Africa. It was founded in November 2001 by Lambert Moloi. As of August 2019, the Company’s current CEO is Douglas Craigie Stevenson
Douglas may re ...
*
Telkom Mobile
Telkom (previously known as Telkom Mobile or 8.ta, changing from 8ta in 2013) is a South African mobile telecommunications company. Telkom Mobile was launched in October 2010 and is owned by Telkom. Telkom phone numbers use the 0811 to 0819 dia ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Internet service providers of South Africa
Mobile phone companies of South Africa
Vodafone
Telecommunications companies established in 1994
Companies based in Johannesburg
South African companies established in 1994
Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
South African brands
Multinational companies headquartered in South Africa