Vodacom in major Free State 5G push
Vodacom is expanding its 5G coverage in the Free State and Northern Cape as part of a R340 million investment in the provinces this financial year.
Vodacom said it would increase the number of 5G sites in the provinces three-fold over the coming months to expand broadband coverage in urban and deep rural areas.
“Vodacom Central Region also plans to triple its 5G footprint in the Northern Cape and Free State by increasing the number of 5G sites to 58,” the mobile operator said.
It will also work to upgrade its base station sites and network resilience in the Free State and Northern Cape.
“Our network rollout programme last year brought Internet to many communities in the region for the first time,” said Vodacom’s Central Region managing executive, Evah Mthimunye.
“This financial year, we want to build on this achievement by extending broadband coverage and investing in network upgrades to increase access to connectivity.”
Mthimunye said Vodacom had already completed LTE capacity expansions at 760 sites.
“In addition to supporting the region’s 44.2% year-on-year surge in data traffic, LTE capacity is crucial, as almost 90% of this data traffic is on LTE technology,” he said.
Vodacom said it would invest R100 million of this financial year’s capital expenditure to overcome network challenges and manage network capacity and site vandalism through power upgrades at its base station sites.
It said the upgrades would ensure that its customers can stay connected during disruptions caused by load-shedding, vandalism, and theft.
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