MTN expands 7.2 Mbps HSDPA coverage
MTN has recently announced plans to build a R 2billion national fibre network in partnership with Neotel, and is progressing well on its inner-city Gauteng network. These networks will provide MTN with near unlimited national and inner-city bandwidth capacity and ensure more affordable bandwidth to the company.
These large fibre projects however do not mean that MTN has lost focus on extending its radio network and increasing capacity to improve service levels to its broadband subscribers.
Over the last few months MTN has added numerous high speed HSDPA sites, many of which are 7.2 Mbps enabled. According to MTN SA CTO Sameer Dave MTN currently has 361 ‘upgraded’ HSDPA sites of which over a hundred are 7.2 Mbps enabled.
The higher speeds are available to all MTN data subscribers without any additional cost, given that they use a 3.6 Mbps or 7.2 Mbps enabled device.
Transmission links remain problematic
Challenges however remain for MTN when it comes to upgrading its current 3G/HSDPA network to higher speeds. Increasing the transmission capacity from the cellular sites continue to be a major headache for both MTN and Vodacom, with long waiting periods for connections from Telkom.
While the numerous fibre projects will alleviate some of demand for backhaul capacity, Telkom remains a vital cog in the wheel for providing the cellular operators with links to carry traffic to and from their sites.
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