Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes. (Photo: Supplied) 
The problem with Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes is that he is disarmingly handsome. It’s a problem because it hides his shrewd business brain. We all know people like that, where everything has kind of gone their way their entire lives, even in the genetic lottery.
This served him well building his sales career at Vodacom, which eventually culminated in a role of chief officer for the red network’s consumer business in 2019. His first instinct when taking the Cell C hot potato was to set lofty goals — like any skilled salesman. He was making a splash.
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“That was my first media roundtable when I had just joined Cell C,” he reminds Daily Maverick during a one-on-one video call — not even the network’s comms team was on the call. “It was an indicative kind of (market) share that was not linked to budgets or plans or anything like that at all. It was never a budgeted number and is not in Cell C’s current plans.”
It’s an important point to consider when his role now, in 2025, is a step outside of his consumer-focused comfort zone. Jorge Mendes, as evidenced by the recent wheelings and dealings, is readying Cell C for a JSE listing. And becoming a primarily B2B company, but we’ll get to that.
It’s a numbers game
“Do we need 15% revenue market share or subscriber market share for this business to be successful? No,” Mendes explains, going further to describe that measurement as “a bit irrelevant” to his priority of building a sustainable business.
He pointed out that even at its current size, the company is set to generate a significant amount of cash, with pro forma gross profits of R3.1-billion for May 2026, which he described as a “very, very healthy number”.
This is, of course, the investor pitch before the listing. To be fair, he volunteered the information before we asked him to deliver the elevator pitch — he also didn’t deny the obvious rumours.
Mendes explained that Cell C had an 8% revenue market share on postpaid contracts and a 9% revenue market share on prepaid connections, and was quick to point out that declines in subscriber numbers were due to administrative corrections of previously inflated figures. After resetting the prepaid base from an inaccurate 9.7 million down to a correct 6.5 million, the company has seen steady growth to 6.8 million.
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“When combining prepaid, postpaid, and MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) customers, the total subscriber base has grown from 10.4 million when I started (as CEO) in July 2023 to 12.1 million.”
Mendes’ general view is that the outcome of market share will be what it will be, and he is not worried about competition. His focus is on ensuring revenue growth and providing more choice for consumers.
“I’m very comfortable that we’re going to do what we’re going to do and whatever the outcome is the outcome. It’s not that (Cell C) has to get 10%, or maybe we get 50% market share. Who knows? Maybe we stay on 12% or 9% (market share). But the revenue growth will be there.”
Learning from a wasteful past
Framing the mobile network industry stakeholders’ collective anticipation of access to Cell C’s financials as frothing at the mouth doesn’t do it justice. Nobody understands the Mendes-led evolution to a “multi-operator core network roaming arrangement” business model, but it is provocative.
His explanation for running a mobile operator that doesn’t own its own highways is interesting.
“Given our economics where we buy largely unused, unutilised spare capacity from the other operators, being MTN and Vodacom, that build technology very well — it’s a very healthy margin. So it’s a good relationship. They sell it to us willingly because it's a great margin of business for them.”
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He contrasts this with Cell C’s past, saying that instead of “being wasteful — we’ve got scars on our back (from trying) to build our own infrastructure,” the new model provides significant revenue to competitors: “We are giving billions in revenue to Vodacom and MTN that they can either choose to bank or invest further into their own network… revenue that they would not otherwise receive if we built our own infrastructure in terms of the radio access network.”
Economics of a reseller
Cell C does still, however, operate key parts of its network; it’s just the physical radio infrastructure that is outsourced.
“We have every other element of the full mobile network (that we) operate ourselves: spectrum billing systems, transport layer to our data centres, all the provisioning rules, all of the core; we have everything.”
But the Mendes magic comes in the reselling of this purchased capacity to Mobile Virtual Network Operators: “If we use that capacity for our own retail customers, we add marketing costs, distribution costs, SIM cards, etc… If I sell that traffic to my Mobile Virtual Network Operators, I remove those costs and because they (MTN and Vodacom) already have those costs sunk in their business, then the contribution margin is largely the same.
“So today, factually, 10% of all Mobile Virtual Network Operator customers come from Cell C. So I lose from my left pocket to the right pocket because my contribution margin is largely the same. Every other customer of the 90% comes from MTN, Vodacom and Telkom. So, we are a net gain business now all day long, due to the Mobile Virtual Network Operator strategy.”
Building a winning culture
Mendes draws a compelling analogy to clarify why Cell C rents mobile infrastructure instead of owning it outright.
“It’s like enjoying a holiday by renting a hotel room, rather than buying the entire hotel.” Most people simply don’t need or can’t afford full ownership, but can still enjoy all the benefits by renting a portion.
Using Mobile Virtual Network Operator partnerships allows the network an opportunity to target specific market segments without the expense of creating sub-brands. He points out that instead of “reinventing the wheel”, Cell C can reach diverse markets — like Shoprite for mass food or Capitec for mass banking — through strategic alliances. This, he insists, is a uniquely smart strategy that benefits all parties involved.
It’s a bold strategy that diverges quite sharply from what we know about standard mobile network operation and requires a unique approach to reset the toxic company culture — his admission — that caused the previous dysfunction.
“The financials looked like a crime scene when I joined.”
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His approach to building culture at Cell C is rooted in a people-centric philosophy, with a strong emphasis on the “THIS” (transparency, honesty, integrity and simplicity) value system.
Mendes believes the key to success lies in assembling the right team and creating an environment where accessibility and honesty are paramount. He distinguishes his leadership by remaining approachable and transparent, holding monthly town halls and sending weekly company-wide WhatsApp updates to keep staff engaged and informed.
Additionally, he cultivates personal connections through celebrations like monthly birthday events, reinforcing a sense of unity and belonging among employees.
Organisationally, he restructured leadership roles to eliminate internal silos, ensuring the company operates as a unified team with shared goals. Mendes maintains that a positive culture and the right people naturally drive the business towards success.
The future may not have steel towers
Looking ahead, the Mendes crystal ball reveals a future where the very foundations of the mobile network industry are radically transformed. He boldly predicts the obsolescence of traditional infrastructure, questioning whether the current model (where each operator builds and maintains its own towers and radio panels) will remain viable.
“Let’s fast forward nine years. Does life remain the same for MTN and Vodacom? My view is it doesn’t.”
His speculation is that technological advances could render steel towers and physical networks irrelevant within a decade.
“There may be zero need in 10 years time for steel structures with radio panels. Zero. The whole infrastructure game could be gone.”
In response to questions about approaching SpaceX to maybe be Starlink’s local partner — to help Elon Musk’s flavour of sky internet jump regulatory hurdles, he was fast to answer: “Who says we haven’t spoken to them?”
The Jorge Mendes revelation will leave a streamlined ecosystem where fibre and data centres handle traffic, landing stations interlink, and connectivity is achieved through low earth orbit satellites.
This vision is core to his commitment to innovation, and positions Cell C at the forefront of a rapidly evolving industry. One where adaptability and strategic foresight will determine the leaders of tomorrow. DM