The highlights were:
* Total revenue for the six months up by 22,5% to R3bn;
* Ebitda for the six months was R199,3m up by 23%;
* 2,7m active subscribers up by 7% from 2005;
* 1,9m prepaid subscribers;
* 753 000 post-paid subscribers;
* 42 000 CST lines implemented;
* Blended ARPU (including CSTs) of R152, up from R142 in 2005;
* Complete national coverage, with over 84% of traffic on Cell Cs own network of over 2 155 base stations;
* Has achieved and exceeded network coverage obligations two years early.

            
Hedberg comments: While certain key performance indicators reflect that we are moving in the right direction, I am not pleased with our performance over the first six months of 2006. As the third licensed operator, we need to substantially improve our focus, speed and efficiency, to grow profitably within an industry structure dominated by the incumbents who continue to take advantage of an imprecise regulatory framework.

This competitive intensity coupled with a lack of execution on our part has resulted in the subsequent decision by a number of rating agencies to downgrade our high-yield bonds. In response to these challenges, we are repositioning the company and, if accorded a level playing field with our competition, there is great potential for our company. The board and I are convinced that we will surely turn this business around.
            
The drop in the pre-paid market is a result of high levels of churn, which is specific to this segment. Traditionally this segment is more price-sensitive and susceptible to products which are perceived to be of better value, he adds.
            
It should be noted, however, that Cell Cs blended annual average revenue per user (ARPU) including CSTs, increased to R152 from R142 in 2005. We believe that the reasons behind this are our strong package mix and the high ARPUs from our post-paid and CST base.
            
Cell Cs Chief Commercial Officer, Jim Courtney, says: Our mobile broadband offerings, headlined by EDGE and enhanced with post-paid data services with smartdata tariffs and bundles, have seen an uptake which averages 18 000 new customers on a monthly basis. This has led to an increase of over 500% in the consumption of GPRS data.