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What will be the price 8ta's LTE 50GB per month when launched in April 2013?
- Thread starter Stochos
- Start date
Cant wait
LTE launch: In a 'matter of weeks' | April or May 2013
Telkom Mobile/8ta: LTE is for the mass market
Telkom: Bridging the Mobile Broadband Gap
Amith Maharaj, Senior Managing Executive of Telkom 8ta (Telkom’s mobile arm), outlines the South African operator’s network and service deployment strategy towards MBB, with an emphasis on LTE TDD using 2.3GHz spectrum.
According to Maharaj, the operator has opted to use LTE TDD technology based on the 2300MHz spectrum. “We have quite an abundant amount of spectrum and we believe that LTE TDD suits mobile broadband, because you can have asymmetric traffic distribution in terms of upload and download; you can decide how you want to configure the upload and download, as 80% of MBB traffic is on the downlink and 20% is on the uplink.” The operator plans to launch LTE service in April or May 2013 based on LTE TDD network overlaid on the 2G/3G network.
However, Maharaj recommends that peers adopt a marketing-centric approach instead of a technology-centric one. For Telkom to succeed in LTE, the first thing is to know the target market and come up with a unique positioning. “I think for LTE, the first thing is to know your target market and to understand what services you want to offer. So understanding where to position LTE in relation to 3G, 2G and ADSL is important. We should understand exactly where it fits in and then come up with unique pricing models that can enable quick uptake and experience.” He adds, “Absolutely Telkom has to differentiate itself on speed and quality of service as well, and from a marketing side, I think a unique proposition to get the market excited about LTE is important.”
“From a service prospective, Telkom is extremely strong in the enterprise market, so the enterprise market is the key market for us to focus on, not only for the corporate customers and corporate employees using the service for themselves, but also machine-to-machine applications, video streaming, security camera, etc. From a consumer perspective, fast and convenient broadband access is what we’re looking for, like I said, fixed-line penetration is extremely low in South Africa, so we’re hoping LTE can fill the gap to bring South Africa on par of the rest of the world for broadband.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Telkom 4G launch ‘within weeks’
Duncan McLeod on 19 March 2013.
The operator’s mobile arm will launch its fourth-generation mobile broadband network commercially within the next few weeks.
Telkom will launch commercial fourth-generation long-term evolution (4G/LTE) broadband products “within weeks”, Telkom Mobile MD Attila Vitai says.
In an interview with TechCentral, Vitai has disclosed that the company expects to have “about a thousand” LTE base stations live when it launches the next-generation broadband network. Coverage will be available in “sub-sets” of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town at launch.
The company has been running a trial of 4G/LTE since November 2012. This trial is set to end on 31 March.
Telkom Mobile is using the access it has to a huge chunk of radio frequency spectrum in the 2,3GHz band to build the LTE network. Unlike rivals Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, Telkom is using a different type of 4G technology used in China and India. The technology has also recently found favour in the US.
Vitai says the fact that Telkom has access to such a large chunk of spectrum — 60MHz — gives it a big technical and commercial advantage of its rivals, which are being forced to reallocate existing spectrum to offer users access to 4G services. Though there are few smartphones available that can take advantage of 4G at 2,3GHz, these are expected to come as the technology is adopted more widely around the world. Also, the initial application for LTE is expected to be mainly in providing mobile and fixed broadband access for computing applications rather than for mobile handsets.
“You will see, within the coming weeks, us coming to market with some very innovative LTE offerings,” Vitai says, without elaborating on the plans. “We have huge amounts of capacity, loads of spectrum, and we aren’t refarming any our frequencies so the service we will be able to offer will be second to none. We first wanted to ensure we had sufficient coverage to make the service meaningful.”
He says mobile broadband will be the area in which Telkom will enjoy strongest growth in the years to come. “We believe that Telkom Mobile is the future of Telkom. We will be the growth engine of the company in the next five years,” Vitai says.
“With our spectrum, with Telkom group behind us, and with the people we have working for the company, we believe are very well positioned to benefit from that growth in mobile data.”
— (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
Telkom Mobile/8ta: LTE is for the mass market
Telkom: Bridging the Mobile Broadband Gap
Amith Maharaj, Senior Managing Executive of Telkom 8ta (Telkom’s mobile arm), outlines the South African operator’s network and service deployment strategy towards MBB, with an emphasis on LTE TDD using 2.3GHz spectrum.
According to Maharaj, the operator has opted to use LTE TDD technology based on the 2300MHz spectrum. “We have quite an abundant amount of spectrum and we believe that LTE TDD suits mobile broadband, because you can have asymmetric traffic distribution in terms of upload and download; you can decide how you want to configure the upload and download, as 80% of MBB traffic is on the downlink and 20% is on the uplink.” The operator plans to launch LTE service in April or May 2013 based on LTE TDD network overlaid on the 2G/3G network.
However, Maharaj recommends that peers adopt a marketing-centric approach instead of a technology-centric one. For Telkom to succeed in LTE, the first thing is to know the target market and come up with a unique positioning. “I think for LTE, the first thing is to know your target market and to understand what services you want to offer. So understanding where to position LTE in relation to 3G, 2G and ADSL is important. We should understand exactly where it fits in and then come up with unique pricing models that can enable quick uptake and experience.” He adds, “Absolutely Telkom has to differentiate itself on speed and quality of service as well, and from a marketing side, I think a unique proposition to get the market excited about LTE is important.”
“From a service prospective, Telkom is extremely strong in the enterprise market, so the enterprise market is the key market for us to focus on, not only for the corporate customers and corporate employees using the service for themselves, but also machine-to-machine applications, video streaming, security camera, etc. From a consumer perspective, fast and convenient broadband access is what we’re looking for, like I said, fixed-line penetration is extremely low in South Africa, so we’re hoping LTE can fill the gap to bring South Africa on par of the rest of the world for broadband.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Telkom 4G launch ‘within weeks’
Duncan McLeod on 19 March 2013.
The operator’s mobile arm will launch its fourth-generation mobile broadband network commercially within the next few weeks.
Telkom will launch commercial fourth-generation long-term evolution (4G/LTE) broadband products “within weeks”, Telkom Mobile MD Attila Vitai says.
In an interview with TechCentral, Vitai has disclosed that the company expects to have “about a thousand” LTE base stations live when it launches the next-generation broadband network. Coverage will be available in “sub-sets” of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town at launch.
The company has been running a trial of 4G/LTE since November 2012. This trial is set to end on 31 March.
Telkom Mobile is using the access it has to a huge chunk of radio frequency spectrum in the 2,3GHz band to build the LTE network. Unlike rivals Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, Telkom is using a different type of 4G technology used in China and India. The technology has also recently found favour in the US.
Vitai says the fact that Telkom has access to such a large chunk of spectrum — 60MHz — gives it a big technical and commercial advantage of its rivals, which are being forced to reallocate existing spectrum to offer users access to 4G services. Though there are few smartphones available that can take advantage of 4G at 2,3GHz, these are expected to come as the technology is adopted more widely around the world. Also, the initial application for LTE is expected to be mainly in providing mobile and fixed broadband access for computing applications rather than for mobile handsets.
“You will see, within the coming weeks, us coming to market with some very innovative LTE offerings,” Vitai says, without elaborating on the plans. “We have huge amounts of capacity, loads of spectrum, and we aren’t refarming any our frequencies so the service we will be able to offer will be second to none. We first wanted to ensure we had sufficient coverage to make the service meaningful.”
He says mobile broadband will be the area in which Telkom will enjoy strongest growth in the years to come. “We believe that Telkom Mobile is the future of Telkom. We will be the growth engine of the company in the next five years,” Vitai says.
“With our spectrum, with Telkom group behind us, and with the people we have working for the company, we believe are very well positioned to benefit from that growth in mobile data.”
— (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
Last edited:
K
kingrob
Guest
Damn, Stochos, you're making me very excited!! 
I've decided that I'm not gonna renew my 8ta HSPA+ contract, cos the LTE deals will be much better.
I've decided that I'm not gonna renew my 8ta HSPA+ contract, cos the LTE deals will be much better.
greg0205
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Source?
Stop giving me a hard on - u making me way too excited but I don't see any prices as yet unless they will be unveiled on Monday/over the weekend..
http://www.8ta.com/lte/
Jola
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I have seen devices that support both FDD and TDD, but these were on 2600MHz.
8ta uses 2300MHz, I have not seen any devices generally available that support TDD 2300MHz.
My bets:
Home Office 10GB - R300+-50 a month contract incl device
Home Office 20GB - R500+-50 a month contract incl device
Home Office 50GB - R700+-50 a month contract incl device
Assuming the devices cost +-R2000 which works out to R83 a month for the device alone. And by device I mean dongle/router.
Home Office 10GB - R300+-50 a month contract incl device
Home Office 20GB - R500+-50 a month contract incl device
Home Office 50GB - R700+-50 a month contract incl device
Assuming the devices cost +-R2000 which works out to R83 a month for the device alone. And by device I mean dongle/router.
Highly doubt it read something on 8ta/Telkom Mobile website, could be a promotion to encourage users to make use of LTE.
greg0205
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Make the 10Gb a 10 + 10 night surfer option at R300, the 20Gb a 20 + 20 at R500 and the 50Gb a 50 + 50 at R700 and the LTE market would be your to do with as you please.
I see not many countries adopted TDE2300, therefore the simple way is to get device from 8ta and then check for usability on other networks. Of course after official launch.
Telkom Mobile/8ta probably went for that spectrum cause they already had the license in place long time ago. Very uncommon practice - rather use a frequency whereby users can bring their device over from other networks. Does this mean 8ta/Telkom Mobile will now bring devices that make use of their spectrum for LTE.
http://www.8ta.com/plans/plan/smartinternet-250mb
Hardware will probably be expensive to purchase. If the E1820 modems sell at R689, LTE device will probably set you back R1500 - R2500.
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Interesting finding. Looks like new plans for smartphone users.
250MB (roaming) +750MB (night surfer TM network only) for R65. Also month to month subscription (aka Cell C for no device). A nice step towars Cell C, still bounding 24-months with device. R2.75p/m voice Arghhh! Come on Telkom Mobile! Vodacom and MTN has R1.20 anytime per second plans.
These plans also reveal new boundle structure roaming and non-roaming. Flexible, but will see how it works in practice.
The price for E1820 is old stock. New devices shoud come with revised pricing. They mentioned in the past, they would focus on MiFi devices (I am 100% with).
250MB (roaming) +750MB (night surfer TM network only) for R65. Also month to month subscription (aka Cell C for no device). A nice step towars Cell C, still bounding 24-months with device. R2.75p/m voice Arghhh! Come on Telkom Mobile! Vodacom and MTN has R1.20 anytime per second plans.
These plans also reveal new boundle structure roaming and non-roaming. Flexible, but will see how it works in practice.
The price for E1820 is old stock. New devices shoud come with revised pricing. They mentioned in the past, they would focus on MiFi devices (I am 100% with).
Last edited:
greg0205
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Big money spenders
Waits patiently for Sunday Times, hopefully they will have prices advertised by then
Yep, until you move and get a call from Telkom, on the day of the move, the same day you've scheduled them to move your line, saying: "So sorry, due to cable theft there will no longer be line installations in your area, ever."
3G, and hopefully LTE, it is for me and I'd happily pay around the same price as uncapped for around 100Gb monthly... Holding thumbs.
netstrider
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- Nov 1, 2006
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- 4,042
Yep, that's the boat I'm in. No installation due to high copper theft in the area. Hoping LTE will solve my broadband hunger.
saor
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I just couldn't be bothered to pay for line rental. Naked ADLS will never happen here will it? Anyway - any news on LTE yet 8ta/telkom? Nothing on the website yet only coverage info.
If I go to http://www.8ta.com/lte/ it seems that the trial is over. Is this the case?
FireTelkom
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Unfortunately yes and I am having withdrawel symptoms