Private higher education group Stadio has launched an MVNO aimed to cutting connectivity costs for its students and staff.
Dubbed Stadio Connect, the new MVNO – or mobile virtual network operator – will be exclusively available to full-time students and staff at first. In time, though, it will be rolled out to other institutions in the Stadio Holdings stable, including Afda and Milpark.
“A common theme in feedback from the annual student survey is the high cost of data and challenges students face in accessing online learning resources,” said Stadio Higher Education CIO Merwe Roux.
“We believe that in the digital world we live in, education needs to use technology to support and advance our students’ learning experiences and set them up for success in the 21st century, so we set out to find a way to make that technology more accessible,” Roux said.
Upon registration, Stadio students and staff receive a free physical Sim or embedded Sim (eSim) to connect to the network, which piggybacks on MTN’s network infrastructure. Sim cards are preloaded with non-expiry data, airtime and SMSes. Rica registration can be done digitally via WhatsApp or using on-campus helpdesks.
As competition in the MVNO sector grows fiercer and new entrants go to market, Stadio has differentiated itself as the first education sector MVNO in South Africa. This niche approach is characteristic of MVNOs.
Zero rating
MTN South Africa is the infrastructure partner to Stadio Connect and in a recent interview with Bitcomme, its CEO Charles Molapisi said the company hopes to partner with MVNOs that will use their brand affinity to help the operator access companies that it has failed to reach through its own customer-facing channels.
Roux said the company is exploring different ways to ensure its students can access their learning material, even when they do not have a positive balance in their Stadio Connect accounts.
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“We’re working on zero-rating our key Stadio websites and platforms, like Canvas, myStadio, and Q-Desk, so students using the network can access their learning materials, administration tools and support systems without using paid data,” said Roux. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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