Vodacom

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Vodacom is a South African based mobile telecommunications company, and was the first mobile telecommunications company in South Africa. As of September 2006, Vodacom's competitors are MTN, Cell C and Virgin Mobile. It is also the leading cellular provider in South Africa with more than 20 million customers. Vodacom was also the first provider to deploy a 3G (third generation) or UMTS network in South Africa and is also offering HSDPA.

Vodacom is part of the global Vodafone mobile network, which claims to be the world's largest.

Vodacom provides GSM service in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides coverage to Mount Kilimanjaro, making it the highest point in the world to be covered by GSM.

[edit] Shareholders

Founded in 1993 as a joint venture between 3 companies:

Telkom SA Ltd (50%)
Vodafone Group Plc (35%)
VenFin Ltd (15%) (of which Vodafone now owns 99.8%, making Vodafone a 50% Shareholder in Vodacom).

In November 2005, Vodafone agreed to acquire VenFin for approximately 16 billion Rand (about €2 billion). It will then shed VenFin's other assets but retain the 15% Vodacom stake, making it a 50% joint owner with Telkom. Following Vodafone practice, the company may be rebranded as Vodafone upon completion of the transaction.

[edit] Sports sponsorship

Vodacom is a major sponsor of South African sports. In rugby union, they are the primary 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. They also hold the South African naming rights to the Tri Nations Series and Super 14, for which they also sponsor the Vodacom Bulls, Vodacom Cheetahs and Vodacom Stormers. They also sponsor the Vodacom Cup domestic competition and are an official supplier to the Springboks.

In soccer they sponsor the two dominant 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). They are also a major supporter of the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa.

Vodacom also owns the naming rights to several stadiums, among them Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein, Newlands Stadium in Cape Town and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The company has chosen not to exercise its right to rename Newlands, and restored the Loftus Versfeld name to the Pretoria stadium, which had been renamed in a prior sponsorship deal.