As isolated complaints of interrupted cellphone network services trickle in, South Africa's communications authority believes the country's three big cellular operators are ready to deal with the surge in users over the next six weeks.

South Africa's cellular user database of 50 million is expected to receive an injection of over 600 000 SIM cards, issued to foreign ticket purchasers visiting the country for the World Cup.

This week cellphone users already started lodging grievances on internet sites and social networking portals like Twitter and Facebook, complaining of dropped calls or not being able to make or receive calls. And on Wednesday, as thousands of eager fans gathered in Sandton for the Unite for Bafana Bafana campaign, there was a brief collapse of the network.

Their issues come roughly a year after the country experienced heavy interrupted services during last year's Confederations Cup.

At the time, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa chairman Paris Mashile said he would give cellular providers six months to sort out problems.

But this week Icasa said it was all systems go as they had received a commitment from service providers that they would be ready to handle the influx of mobile traffic during the cup.

The authority admitted that it has still been receiving some complaints relating to dropped calls but said these had been "minimal" and not serious enough to elevate them to disciplinary level.

"This shows that there is a certain level of compliance with regard to these complaints and it clearly shows that operators have taken the matter seriously and are working hard to deal with these challenges," said spokesman Paseka Maleka.

"As far as the authority is concerned, it's all systems go for the cellular operators. The authority has the framework (in terms of regulations) in place to ensure that these operators provide the service they were licensed for. Any deviation from these would result in action taken against the defaulting party," he added.

After nightmarish problems on cellphone networks last year Icasa published the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter, which sets out the minimum standards of service provision for network providers.

The problems were a wake-up call for service providers who instituted major plans for coverage during this year's spectacular.

MTN has spent close to half a billion rands on infrastructure to cater for additional demands on its network during the tournament. It has set up 348 antennae throughout the stadium to ensure even and seamless coverage.

Similar systems, but on a smaller scale, have been installed at each of the other nine stadiums. There's also additional infrastructure in place at airports for the duration of the tournament.

Richard Boorman in Vodacom's communications department admitted there had been congestion issues in Sandton this week, but noted that it had also been unexpected that so many people would show up at the celebrations.

He said the company had made susbtantial investments, particularly where there would be high volumes of people, like stadiums and airports.

MTN chief technology officer Sameer Dave said additional infrastructure will focus on areas of high activity during the tournament and will be redeployed after the event.