Carol Hall is leaving her position as Managing Executive for the Western Region of Vodacom after 27 years of service. The departure concludes an incredible chapter in the telecom sector that started in 1994 when she became interested in wireless technology after a fortuitous encounter at a petrol station. Hall’s retirement was announced by Vodacom on Tuesday.
"I was working in the credit card division at a major bank, and while at the petrol station was helping to reprogramme those old card machines that used to plug into a Telkom jack when I heard about the introduction of card machines that used a wireless signal to connect. This intrigued me, so I did some research and found out about Vodacom and its former sales arm, Vodac. I successfully applied for a sales position at the company, which was the start of an amazing 27-year journey," she explains.
Carol Hall’s significant milestone
Hall cites a number of noteworthy turning points in her career. In 2003, she participated in the inaugural Vodacom Advanced Executive Program (VAEP). By giving them the chance to advance their business and innovation skills for Vodacom's benefit and their future careers, the program aims to recognise and reward exceptional employees.
She visited Vodafone Italy in 2004 as part of the Janus Project award-winning team to meet with the CEO and senior management before outlining the necessary changes to the Vodacom South Africa board. Her performance earned her a position as a regional Managing Executive (ME) in the Eastern Cape in 2005, making her the first woman and the first person without a technical background to hold such a position.
"I remember walking into a boardroom filled with regional MEs, all of whom were male at the time, and from a technical background. Shameel Joosub, present Vodacom Group CEO gave me such great advice. He said, ‘Your colleagues in the boardroom may know a lot about technology, but you as one person know a lot about sales and marketing, the commercial business.' We made a great regional team who shared openly and learnt greatly from each other."
Two CEO Region of the Year awards and the CEO Special Recognition Award were the results of this teamwork.
"One of the most significant moments as ME of Vodacom Eastern Cape region was how Vodacom played an important part in Nelson Mandela's funeral in Qunu. Providing network connectivity was an exceedingly difficult execution due to the high level of security and protocol but at the same time an emotional one. The media was very reliant on our network during and after the event. I am so proud that we were able to honour this incredible leader and serve our country in doing so."
Hall took over as the Western Region's ME in 2019, managing the business unit. Vodacom had invested R2.5 billion over the last five years to roll out the network in the area. This initiative fuelled the expansion of 5G and increased coverage, particularly in the townships and rural areas of the province.
In times of need, she and her team have also worked with nearby communities. Vodacom pledged R500 000 to Gift of the Givers last year to support communities severely impacted by storms and fires in the province and, in 2021, donated R3 million to relief efforts to aid thousands of people affected by a runaway fire in Cape Town.
Vodacom collaborated with Gift of the Givers and Provincial Disaster Management to restore power and connectivity and deliver humanitarian aid in the Karoo region following a 14-day power and network outage caused by severe weather and flooding in April of last year.
"Supporting the communities we serve through connectivity is a huge part of our purpose. In 2022, when a fire broke out at the Parliamentary complex in Cape Town, we helped to transform the City Hall into a Parliament building within a few weeks. The City Hall is a heritage building, so we had to bring in fibre as well as network equipment without altering the structure. This was a massive challenge, but we were successful in being able to deliver connectivity to Parliament for SONA that year. We also won a Regional Team CEO award for this undertaking," Hall narrates.
Hall observes that Vodacom is now more than just a mobile network operator when reflecting on the evolution of the telecom sector over the previous thirty years.
Hall further explains, "In the early days of cellular, we used to have to follow the network rollout to sell our services. Now with coverage everywhere, we connect our customers and communities in ways that we never could have imagined."
What's next for Carol Hall?
Hall has led with humility, respect, and purpose during her time at Vodacom. She believes in the importance of setting a positive example and treating people with care.
She looks forward to exploring South Africa, continuing to mentor others, and spending more time with her family, including her first soon-to-be grandchild, as she enters retirement.
Hall calls her career "an incredible journey" where her drive to change the world has permanently impacted both the company and the individuals she worked with.
