It's time for change... Seeya Cell C, roll on Melon Mobile!

Many moons ago, in the region of 20 years or so, I abandoned the MTN ship and made the jump to Cell C. At the time, Cell C were a fresh alternative to the reigning cellular networks in South Africa.
They offered something that MTN could not - quick support and a seemingly willing approach to assisting clients.

At first, the honeymoon was bliss - Cell C was great, and I was happy to have jumped ship.
20 years on, and the picture is far less rosy.
Cell C still doesn't offer 5G data services, their support staff are often rude, their coverage is sketchy and they don't even operate their own cell towers anymore.
Recent headlines also paint a dire financial picture for the company in coming years...

After growing tired of their incessant calling to advise me that I am due for an upgrade, I started trying to find alternative options with other cellular providers...

Enter Melon Mobile - an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), which runs off the MTN network.
After seeing their ads on Instagram, it became apparent that their approach was in stark contrast to the well-established contract-based cellular mindset that we have all become used to.
You see, Melon don't do contracts - it's all month to month, and their pricing is super competitive.
You can opt for a free trial, but I signed up for their R199 Summer Promo, which gets me:

• 5GB data
• 500 SMS
• UNLIMITED Voice minutes per month

...on a month to month basis, for R199!
So I'm not stressing about a 24 or 36 month commitment here. My commitment issues are sorted :)

Here's where the deal gets really sweet. Instead of going into a store in a crazy busy shopping mall, waiting for a consultant, figuring out what you want to sign up for, producing reams of supporting documents, payslips, bank statements and blood samples... and finally hopefully ending up with a new cell package, you just download the Melon app, and do everything in there.
For me, it took all of 20 minutes, including RICA (which Melon do via Whatsapp).
A really nice touch here is the option to sign up for a free eSIM (if your phone is compatible, otherwise you can order a normal SIM card).
For the uninitiated, an eSIM works just like a physical SIM card, except it downloads and installs directly to your phone - it's essentially a digital SIM card. Nifty!

The Melon app showing plan and payment options

Super clean, uncluttered UI = easy reading

The entire setup and installation can be done from the comfort of your own home, in less than 30 minutes... and yes they can port your existing number as well :)
Need support? Hit them up on Whatsapp and a real live human being will reply within minutes, ready to sort out any queries that you may have.
Compare that to the 25 minute hold time that we are all so used to on other cellular networks...

I've now been on the Melon Mobile network since early November 2023, and if these first few months are anything to go on, they are onto a seriously good product.
Coverage has been excellent almost everywhere - I no longer get dropped calls, and I can actually experience properly decent data speeds.
It would be wise for other cellular networks to learn a thing or 2 from Melon - after all, why should we be locked into cell contracts for several years, all the while putting up with shoddy service and exorbitant pricing?

Still not convinced?
Why not download their app below and take their free trial for a spin ;) 
I'm guessing that you might be pleasantly surprised...

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Is Cell C LTE any good? Maybe this will help you decide...

I had a rather joyous moment last week when after a very, very long wait, a small "L" suddenly appeared at the top of my Lumia 930 screen, in place of the usual boring "H+"...

Cell C (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For those of you who may not know, that means "LTE" - in short, a much faster mobile internet connection which Vodacom, MTN and 8ta have been offering for a while now.

Cell C is traditionally always the late guy to the party, but I have to say that this wait was indeed worthwhile.
From the moment that I noticed that LTE became active on my phone last week, I have been taking speed tests at random intervals and all around JHB on my daily travels.
From Glenhazel to Edenvale, Bedfordview to Rosebank, Illovo to Orchards - check out the results below to get a summary of the Cell C LTE experience so far...

Downloads peaked at an impressive max. speed of 54.51Mbps, and Uploads peaked at 15.26Mbps, depending on signal strength.
Overall not a bad show I have to say, but certainly a quick way to eat through mobile data!

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Cell C has upgraded JHB... finally!

I never thought I would see this day...

A bit earlier today, my phone started showing a small 3G icon just below the network signal.
"Could it be?"... I wondered in a cautious, yet ever so slightly hopeful manner...

So I quickly located a 3MB song online on my phone, and downloaded it... in 10 seconds flat!
That equates to roughly 300 Kilobytes (or 3 Megabits) per second, and that means that Cell C have finally delivered on their promise of a JHB rollout of their HPSA+ network.

At last my previously stunted Nokia N97 can now download data at full speed - and from the first impression it is pretty darn quick!

Oh and in case you are wondering why I only got 3Mbps in download speeds (Cell C have boasted about speeds up to 21Mbps), it is because the Nokia N97 only supports data speeds up to 3.6Mbps.
If I wanted to test out the maximum speed of the Cell C data network, I would need to get myself one of those new USB data modems that Cell C is offering on their new data bundles...

So unless Cell C maybe decide to offer me the opportunity to try one of those out (hint, hint), I will have to just make do with what I have for now :)

In any case, well done and "big up" (as they say in the States) to Cell C - this has been a long time in the making and I hope that it pushes you guys way ahead of the competition!

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Cell C "4Gs" rollout has started...

According to the Cell C website, the first of many South African cities (Port Elizabeth) has now received the long-awaited "4G" network upgrade that Cell C has been promising for so long.
An update at this link on the Cell C site claims that this is the very first of its' type in Africa...

Man oh man, Cell C's "4G" better be rolling out in JHB very soon... and trust me, when (if!) it does ever arrive in JHB, I am going to be reporting back here on it regularly.

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Cell C pins April as launch date for "4G"...

This topic has been flying around "the interweb" (thanks to "Die Antwoord" for that one :)) a lot lately.
The question is whether or not Cell C is going to make a move beyond their current EDGE data offering on their network.

Talk is rife of Cell C launching "4G" sometime soon, with data download speeds in the region of 21Mbps (approx. 3 times faster than the current Vodacom and MTN offerings).
In truth this is not actually 4G (4th Generation), rather an advanced version of 3G (3rd Generation).
Now a lot of very important people are unhappy about this apparent deception, this sneaky and devious attempt to fool and mislead the consumer!!
They say "That's not 4G, it's 3.75G!! OMG Cell C are doing us out of 0.25G!!"

Get over yourselves guys, the bottom line here is that Cell C (if they do indeed deliver), will be bringing some seriously high-speed mobile internet access to the general public.
That's a good thing. Don't try and bring a good thing down.

Honestly I don't really care if it is TRUE 4G, as long as it's flippin' fast!

p.s. I heard a rumour today that April 2010 is the launch month for Cell C's new data network... hold thumbs and watch this space!

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Is Cell C getting 4G...?

For many years I have been a loyal Cell C supporter, despite their lack of anything faster than EDGE on their data network.
Cell C have also constantly advised me that 3G is coming soon, not sure EXACTLY when they say, but soon.

That was back in 2008.

So now, 2 years on, I did a little poking, prodding and prying, and a rumour has emerged which claims that Cell C may in fact completely skip 3G (and 3.5G), and launch 4G sometime during 2010...
Now if this turns out to be true, it will be quite an awesome move on the part of Cell C, who up till now have lost a lot of customers based on data speeds inferior to those of MTN and Vodacom, who both currently offer 3.5G (or 3G HSDPA).

Not sure what I'm talking about?
Courtesy of the guys over at Wikipedia:

"4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards.
It is a successor to 3G and 2G standards, with the aim to provide a wide range of data rates up to ultra-broadband (gigabit-speed) Internet access to mobile as well as stationary users."

So in layman's terms, 4G is flipping fast mobile internet - the next step up from HSDPA - and therefore faster than anything we currently have available to us in South Africa.

Come on Cell C - your loyal customers await news of 4G!!

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