Vodacom LTE launch in photos

Vodacom launched South Africa’s first commercial LTE service at the 2012 MyBroadband conference – here is a visual story about the launch

Rudolph Muller

October 11, 2012

Vodacom launched South Africa’s first commercial LTE service at the 2012 MyBroadband conference held at Vodacom World on 10 October 2012.

Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said that Vodacom’s LTE service had been officially switched on and “was open for business”. The service is initially available in Johannesburg, with other cities to follow in the near future.

At the launch there was another first in South Africa. Vodacom data head Jannie van Zyl made the first ever commercial LTE call to 8ta head Amith Maharaj using a Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE mobile phone.

“With the launch of Vodacom’s commercial LTE service, a whole new world of connected services becomes possible. Next generation HD video and voice services will come into their own, and low latency online activities like real-time gaming via mobile becomes possible,” said Joosub.

Vodacom’s LTE launch had many great touches, which drew loads of applause from delegates at the conference.

The following photos give an overview of Vodacom’s LTE launch and shows why it made headlines.

Delegates entering Vodacom World were greeted with various displays hinting that something big is coming, and that they should brace themselves for a high speed experience.

Road leading to Vodacom World

Delegates saw 1G, 2G and 3G and ‘?’ stickers on the road.

Vodacom 3G and question

An F1 car parked at the entrance of Vodacom World.

Vodacom LTE F1 car

Delegates also received “brace yourself for flight” drinks, branded in Vodacom’s red color.

Vodacom brace yourself drinks

During the first question and answer session with Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, he discusses the company’s network and then announces: commercial LTE is live!