MTN

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silversurfer

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apparently MTN are making a move on wireless in SA :) apparently they will be setting up all their already in place towers within 6 weeks. I havent seen or heard anything official yet.. this is just via the grapevine.

this is all good for SA internet. [}:)]
 
Yup.... GSM AND WiFi on one device.
Official announcement will be on 23rd of June.
 
Hmmm... Will it be of any competition to sentech, price and speed wise? Considering that MTN don't have as much international infastructure (as far as i know?).

Chow, Nick

Nick Smit
broadband@nicksmit dot za dot net
 
Alo,

I may be speaking **** BUT, AFAIK this is to be a hotspot style 802.11 service. In other words shorter range lower latency. Probably more aimed at business traveller / notebook warrior than an always on fixed service.

I'd better ask a few questions when next I chat to them ;-)

R

************************************************************
The views expressed on this site are my own and NOT those of my employer.
 
I think this might be the case aswell. But their are so many MTN towers that they should cover way more ground than MyWireless. Either way more competition is good for us

..- dot dot dash ;)
 
Sounds good... pity tho that bandwidth will be supplied by Telkom between the towers and ISP level so prolly prices will not be incredibly low, but hey we can sure as **** hold thumbs!

<font color="navy"><font size="1"><b>Where others have progress, we have Telkom.</b>
Hellkom website - http://telkomsucks.0catch.com</font id="size1"></font id="navy">
 
Does MTN have a licience to operate on the wifi frequency? And does anyone know the average distance between mtn towers?

Chow, Nick

Nick Smit
broadband@nicksmit dot za dot net
 
<i>Originally posted by Nickste:
Hmmm... Will it be of any competition to sentech, price and speed wise? Considering that MTN don't have as much international infastructure (as far as i know?).</i>

MTN has a huge international infrastructure, with plenty of bandwidth on demand if they need it. They are one of the 6 1st-tier ISP's in SA and cater almost exclusively for the SA corporate market.

See their ISP site: www.mtnns.co.za

I know naught of this proposed service, but it sure will be very interresting to see what they can come up with.

--deckert
 
<i>Originally posted by regardtv:
I may be speaking **** BUT, AFAIK this is to be a hotspot style 802.11 service. In other words shorter range lower latency.</i>

Lower latency indeed. That would be welcome, but the range is not shorter - keep in mind what MegaWAN has done with WiFI and the technology has improved a great deal since those days. It would be trivial to set up a cell to cover a 4 km radius.

The only problem I can think of would be the capacity, as 802.11 operates as a single-colission domain, so if there is lots of traffic there is lots of contention. Security would be another problem, unless they enforce the use of WEP/WEP2 (which is not tough to break in any case).

<i>Probably more aimed at business traveller / notebook warrior than an always on fixed service.</i>

Could be, but they might then be conflicting with their GPRS service a little. If they really do roll out 802.11 and they're smart about it, they can bundle it with a contract - thereby luring mobile subscribers to their network.

--deckert
 
"Does MTN have a licience to operate on the wifi frequency? And does anyone know the average distance between mtn towers? "


hotspots is legal

..- dot dot dash ;)
 
Hi all.

This is probably not the topic to ask this question in and I have very little knowledge about cellphone tegnology ao flame me if I seem like an idiot.

Follow my logic with me. All I know about the difference between MTN and Vodacom is Vodacom is analogue and MTN is digital. So in effect MTN has been transmitting voice over digital lines for years. So what is the whole issue and Telkom's monopoly about VOIP as it should be very close to each other technology wise.

Ok, I'm gonna go back to my corner now.

Of course I don't look busy.....I did it right the first time.
 
MTN are about to roll out a 3G solution too.
(Very few details are available here - with MTN staying very mum on this)
However their new GSM/WiFi solution does NOT compete
with sentech. This will be a "local" solution, aimed
at the business community who use airports office parks
etc.
Also... remember that MTN is very much a "pay per packet"
business model... something that users of MyWireless will
not like!!
 
MTN does not need a license to operate on the WiFi frequency. Its the unlicensed band at 2.4GHz.

The thing about MTN and Vodacom is that they are both digital. They dont actually send their calls over the internet (a publicly routed network) or use the Internet Protocol. Thus, their traffic (calls) is not classified as VoIP. They have their own private licensed-frequency networks.

MTN seems to have a newer technology threshold - they seem to bring out the newest stuff first and seem to have the latest technology. However, Vodacom concentrates on new products within the scope of their current offering. They also have more coverage and the most subscribers by far (due to them being first and a powerful initial advertising campaign -- yebo gogo)

In addition, VoIP (excuse the high level stuff) uses packet routing/switching while cellphones/telkom use circuit switching which means a dedicated path for traffic. VoIP uses the available bandwidth more efficiently. Due to the nature of the internet, it is possible to deploy VoIP at a low cost or at no cost. This, in essence, is the distinction between normal voice and VoIP.

Due to licensing restrictions, only Sentech can provide wireless internet services in South Africa - no matter what anyone says. All the other companies are jumping on the Sentech bandwagon (the wireless craze) in order to market their hotspot offering(s). MTN is just using this hotspot wireless thing for publicity. I doubt they will make a lot of money out of it.

Lastly, the reason Sentech got the 3G license is that they are using a "private" 2.5GHz frequency band which means its a lot easier to regulate, manage and most importantly, control. WiFi and 802.11 use a free-to-use band and as such, anybody could cause interference and also provide similar services. So you can understand why we have the system we do. Perhaps things will change with 802.16 - only time will tell.
 
Actually Sentech don't only have a 2.5Ghz licsense.
They also have a 3.5Ghz one too.
This will be going live as early as August.(A commercial wireless offering).
 
The reason for MTN's ability to roll out technologies quickly is the fact that they have standardized ALL their switching equipment - Ericsson...

Vodacom's gear is all over the place - it's a real nightmare to make large changes - this is however changing ;-)

Chatting to some of MTN's marketing staff I've heard that they'll be rolling a G2.5 technology that could supply up to 300kbs ...

We are in for a rather interesting 2004....

R

************************************************************
The views expressed on this site are my own and NOT those of my employer.
 
It has already been quite an interesting 2004 thanks to the introduction of Mywireless dont you think [?]

hmm.. 300kbps. Sounds good. Pity though they will have to implement it on their cellular network which means it will be a pay per packet service. Which has its advantages however (roaming etc) - it will be cool to get access to your email anywhere (not needing a coverage area only covering some exclusive spots here and there).

I wanna know whats gonna happen with 802.16? I think it uses UNI-II at 5GHz which is also unlicensed.. which is bad news for our little territory. 802.16 is the mother of all wireless - 480Mbps with 40+km range (or something to that effect)

If im not mistaken, the 802.16 is a broadband wireless set of standards as compared to 802.11 which is really a Wireless LAN standard being used (or abused) to carry internet traffic. Saying 802.11 is wireless internet is rather like saying 802.3 is wired internet. Anyways.. getting carried away again.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Myrrdin</i>
<br />All I know about the difference between MTN and Vodacom is Vodacom is analogue and MTN is digital.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Eh? I'm no expert, but AFAIK, both follow the *digital* global GSM standard, and certainly, any fixed lines they use are digital.
 
Thanks Greedyflyza.

Like I said, dont know much about cell networks. Cleared that up for me.

[:)]

Of course I don't look busy.....I did it right the first time.
 
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