When the original mobile operator licences were awarded to MTN and Vodacom in September 1993, the business cases behind the licence applications read strangely today. Vodacom projected 250 000 subscribers within ten years, and reached three million in only seven years.

In other words, the technology satisfied a need that was stronger than business or government fully appreciated. Indeed, at the time, there was a strong sector of opinion in the ANC that argued that mobile phones would just benefit the rich. Well, the rich certainly benefitted, but it was the poor in their millions who somehow found the money to buy handsets and the airtime they needed. In a real sense, the customers made the market.