Rain (telecommunications)

Rain or Rain Ltd is a South African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data, and converged services.

WWW rain.co.za 𝕏 rainSouthAfrica FB RainSouthAfrica IN rainsouthafrica

History

Rain Ltd launched in February 2018, and began providing data only services using 3,000 of their own cell towers and by leasing infrastructure from Vodacom and MTN. Clients who were interested on using the services create an online profile and the SIM card would be delivered by CCD Couriers.
In June 2020, rain announced the addition of 1,500 5G standalone towers to be launched in 2021.

Technology

Rain provides 4G and LTE services through a partnership that enables the company to use infrastructure owned by Vodacom and MTN. They launched the first Standalone 5G network in the country, powered by Huawei infrastructure.
Rain's Standalone 5G is currently available in major metropolitan areas around the country.

Controversies

Ban claiming “Unlimited Data 24/7 on 5G”

In August 2020, the advertising appeal committee of the advertising regulatory bureau banned rain from claiming unlimited 5G 24/7 after receiving multiple complaints from the public.

Spectrum arrangements

In October 2021, Telkom has approached Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to report spectrum arrangements between competitors Vodacom and Rain. Telkom argues Vodacom's ability to control Rain's spectrum entrenches its position as a dominant player in a highly concentrated market. An investigation is still underway.