Vodacom is 4G ready

vzta22 said:
Vodacom is pulling some publicity stunt to lobby people to support their proposed acquisition of Neotel. I don't believe in one bit they have upgraded all their sites to 4G. IWBIWISI!
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You also didn't read the article lol.
 
genetic said:
So then how can you call BS if you don't actually know what technicians do in the tower? :confused:
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Contractor has been here to refuel the generator, both telkom and the tower has one as the power is every unstable, during summer due to lighting striking the power grid here often, resulting in the main substation going out often brings in an additional portable tank, so they can avoid call outs on weekends to refuel.

The often have site meetings, considering I have a take away, they enjoy their breakfast here while they discuss whatever they need to.Plus they need to sign why they are here in the logbook, when they collect they keys, perhaps the most obvious one. :)

Last 3 times was to refuel, pretty much all the main contractor does, they also have a specific contractor that only deals with the cooling system, last month they repaired that, but that was for the telkom exchange.

So pretty much who, where and what.
 
FlashSA said:
I hear you, but why did MTN go full 3G then? And at Xmas time, the Voda tower is unusable for data due to the influx of people which swamp the tower.
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Yes seems MTN at least cares about people who don't have any other means of internet. I was in Hogsback recently and was surprised to get a good 3g MTN signal. And that is a real remote place.
 
ttygt said:
Ok. According to your made up stats, that still leaves about 53 000 people in this country without coverage.
And it seems most of us are in the cities, have ample expendable income, but no coverage.
So why may I not ask for additional towers?
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You may. And if someone in your neighborhood is not blocking, you probably would've had more towers.

Upgrading the technology is the next best option to get the most of the existing towers. Thus we spend Billions doing that.
 
Ockie said:
If all sites have been upgraded to LTE Advance equipment, can some 2100 spectrum from 3G be refarmed to switch on 4G or will that be spreading the spectrum pie a bit thin and just end up degrading all services?
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Likely how it'll pan out, i.e. we'll have to use 2100. (Even though ICASA is sitting on heaps of unused spectrum).
 
Jan said:
The presentation today centred around base station equipment (and the LTE-A demo, of course).

In other words, the actual radio network gear is LTE-A ready.

Just add fibre (or another sufficiently high-capacity transmission system), spectrum, and demand; and Vodacom can turn on 4G. That's the impression I got anyway.
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Would be a bit silly to turn on 4G (or even 3G) if the only backhaul is a very thin Telkom copper line.

Radios as software configurable to whatever we want to switch on.
 
jannievanzyl said:
Would be a bit silly to turn on 4G (or even 3G) if the only backhaul is a very thin Telkom copper line.

Radios as software configurable to whatever we want to switch on.
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Cool, thanks for confirming. Andries was pretty clear during the presentation, so hopefully the article lays it out clearly enough as well.
 
jannievanzyl said:
Would be a bit silly to turn on 4G (or even 3G) if the only backhaul is a very thin Telkom copper line.

Radios as software configurable to whatever we want to switch on.
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so build, or buy, a fibre network ...
;)
 
jannievanzyl said:
Would be a bit silly to turn on 4G (or even 3G) if the only backhaul is a very thin Telkom copper line.

Radios as software configurable to whatever we want to switch on.
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Vodacom's success relies on Telkom, there you have it.
Q is... is speed the only benefit to be had from LTE-A?
What about the limits of 2G/EDGE? Aren't there other benefits?
Why are the majority of towers 2G when 4G is available to be 'switched on'? Is that argument back to spectrum again?
 
Arietans said:
Vodacom's success relies on Telkom, there you have it.
Q is... is speed the only benefit to be had from LTE-A?
What about the limits of 2G/EDGE? Aren't there other benefits?
Why are the majority of towers 2G when 4G is available to be 'switched on'? Is that argument back to spectrum again?
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For a long time still, yes.
Nope, spectral efficiency, all-IP, etc.
A number, including a flatter network architecture.
Spectrum the biggest, followed by backhaul and the lack of compatible handsets.
 
Arietans said:
Vodacom's success relies on Telkom, there you have it.
Q is... is speed the only benefit to be had from LTE-A?
What about the limits of 2G/EDGE? Aren't there other benefits?
Why are the majority of towers 2G when 4G is available to be 'switched on'? Is that argument back to spectrum again?
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LTE or the moniker "4G" is data only, voice falls back on 2G/3G or voice over LTE which basically is VOIP calls, so they still need 2G/3G in any event.Considering areas they want to cover outside of cities means getting a lower band, 2.100MHZ is great for cities where you have plenty of towers you can't really use that outside of cities without putting up a considerable amount of extra towers as the range isn't that great.

So yeah spectrum is an issue on the lower bands, which is why I am taking this with a pinch of salt, if they apply 2.100MHZ here it will be slower than a sloth and the coverage will suck even more as they wouldn't be able to cover the whole/larger area like MTN is currently doing.

Whole network 4G capable ?, pretty convenient to say sorry we couldn't get the spectrum for you area, but we did use 2.100MHZ just go sit underneath the tower and get better signal, I should also mention that this area and surrounding areas have extra thick house walls and metal roofs, so bar range the signal will have to contend with other obstacles as well, even with the MTN's lower band 3G there is literally dead spots on the property even with perfect line of sight, so if vodacom gets it right I will eat my hat :p
 
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