Cellphone operator Cell C, which is investing R5-billion on infrastructure this year, will launch its first wireless broadband services this month.

Speaking at the unveiling of the company's new branding, chief executive Lars Reichelt said the Cell C network would offer "beyond 3G" services, with new technology allowing it to surpass speeds on offer from competitors MTN and Vodacom.

Switch-on in the first two cities, which Reichelt did not want to identify for competitive reasons, is expected in the next three weeks. Tests are under way in six cities in total, and the new network will cover more than 30% of SA's population by the end of the year. This is roughly similar to MTN's and Vodacom's 3G roll-out, he said.

"Billions of rands more" will be spent on infrastructure in 2011.

Cell C is spending R150-million on a rebranding and marketing campaign with comedian Trevor Noah and another R150-million on upgrading stores.

"We want to re-launch Cell C as a brand that is a consumer champion," Reichelt said.

The aim of the collaboration with Noah, the company's "customer experience officer", is to get customers talking to Cell C about problems they may experience with billing systems, contracts and network quality.

The marketing campaign will encourage customers to "tell Trevor" about problems through a website and SMS number, with a Cell C team responding.

The company has outsourced its customer contact centre to Merchants and field marketing to the Smollan Group. The company also launched its first BlackBerry services this week.

Using the 900 MHz frequency, Cell C will be better positioned from a technology and capital expenditure perspective than MTN and Vodacom, said Africa Analysis analyst Dobek Pater.

"Cell C won't have to deploy as many base stations as competitors in rural areas. The question is: is the market there? At this point, it is very limited."

While Cell C, with an estimated market share of 14%, was unlikely to develop into a third powerful player soon, it would remain a company that would keep the big operators on their toes, Pater said.

Changing branding is not enough to win market share, but it "sends a strong signal that they don't want to be the same Cell C", said World Wide Worx director Arthur Goldstuck.