Mthatha Express retracts the article titled “Agricultural school receives R1.3 million donation from Cell C” published on Thursday, May 5, 2022, and wishes to apologise to Cell C.
The misrepresenting pertains to the intent to make a donation to Gobizizwe Agricultural School in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
The article made it appear as if the digital lab had already been handed over to Gobizizwe Agricultural School in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
Further, mention is made of a network tower that is to be constructed in the community, which contradicts Cell C’s much publicised network strategy of buying network infrastructure capacity and services, rather than build infrastructure.
The correct and accurate information communicated by Cell C in the interview is as follows:
- The donation to Gobiziwe Agricultural School would not be monetary but rather that of digital tools and services such as tablets, laptops, connectivity, servers and training of the teachers and learners to utilise the hardware and software.
- The digital lab will be donated in the upcoming months and has not yet been handed over as stated by the article. The primary beneficiaries will be the school; however, the overall impact is the community benefiting from an improved network connection.
- At no stage did the Cell C spokesperson state that Cell C would be building a tower in the community.
Cell C’s Network Strategy
It is public knowledge that Cell C’s network strategy is that of a buyer of network capacity and services, rather than building network infrastructure.
To that end the telco has been on a network transition journey migrating from a physical to a virtual radio access network (RAN) to offer its customers an improved network experience. and good progress has been made in this regard.
The Eastern Cape is one of the first provinces to be fully migrated from a physical to a virtual RAN in 2021. As a result, the community of Mthatha and province as a whole will be experiencing improved network quality as intended by the network migration.
Cell C’s School Connectivity Programme
Cell C has been on a journey to connect the youth to digital tools through its School Connectivity Programme, with the organisation donating digital labs as part of its commitment to giving young access to quality network, digital tools and digital skills development.
Additionally, the digital labs (being rolled out nationally) are part of Cell C’s partnership with government to meet its digital imperatives in our country.
Mthatha Express apologises to Cell C for not reflecting the facts presented.
