Vodacom
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Vodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, and was the first cellular network in South Africa. It provides GSM service to more than 30.2 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is owned on a 50:50 basis by the South African telecommunications group Telkom and the British mobile phone operator Vodafone.
Vodacom is the leading cellular network in South Africa with an estimated market share of 58% and more than 23 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. Other network operators in the South African market include MTN and Cell C. Virgin Mobile is an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator).
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.
[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 FIFA 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.
[edit] References
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