8ta is a South African mobile telecommunications company. 8ta was launched in October 2010 and is owned by Telkom. 8ta phone numbers use the 0811 to 0819 dialling prefixes. 8ta's competition in South Africa includes MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Virgin Mobile.
Cell C is South Africa's third cell network after Vodacom and MTN Group, and the first cellular provider operating a dual band GSM 900/1800 MHz data network, with over 11.5 million subscribers according to recent reports in MoneyWeb and My Broadband. Founded in November 2001, Cell C is owned by 3C Telecommunications, which is 60% owned by Oger Telecom South Africa, a division of Saudi Oger; 25% owned in an unencumbered holding by CellSAf, (a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment entity representing over 30 black empowerment companies and trusts), and 15% by Lanun Securities SA (Lanun is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Oger Ltd).
MTN Group, formerly M-Cell, is a South Africa-based multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African, European and Middle Eastern countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg.
Virgin Mobile South Africa (VMSA) is a joint-venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Cell C. Virgin Mobile South Africa launched in 2006. In February 2011 it was reported that Cell C's 50% stake in Virgin Mobile is to be sold to Virgin Group of the UK and Calico Investments of the Bahamas.
Vodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, with the largest number of subscribers of cellular networks 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 48.18 billion South African Rand.
