HSPA: Vodacom vs MTN vs Cell C
Over the last few weeks there has been one announcement after the other from the cellular providers about their high speed mobile broadband plans.
Cell C was first to announce in late January that it is rolling out a ‘4G’ network, and is planning to be the first operator in South Africa to launch 21 Mbps HSPA+ services. “We are glad to say that we are on track to deliver a 4G network that will offer the kind of connectivity that South Africans have been craving,” said Cell C CEO Lars P. Reichelt.
“Few would have predicted that Cell C would ever lead the industry as far as network infrastructure is concerned but it is a fact that Cell C will be the first South African operator to roll out HSPA+ technologies incorporating download speeds of up to 21Mbit/s – three times faster than anything currently available.”
This announcement from Cell C is dubious at best, and to date the cellular provider has not substantiated any of the claims made in its press statement, and refuses to discuss the statements related to its 4G announcement. Vodacom and MTN have further raised the bar for Cell C by announcing that they are both rolling out 14.4 Mbps HSPA and 21 Mbps HSPA+ services.
In early February Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys announced that Vodacom has switched on its HSPA+ network in Midrand, offering speeds of up to 21 Mbps. This service will not be available immediately, but Uys said that 21 Mbps HSPA+ will be accessible in areas like the World Cup stadiums and airports “where it makes sense”. Uys added that the full Vodacom network will be 14.4 Mbps capable by the time the 2010 World Cup kicks off.
MTN followed the announcement by Vodacom by releasing a press statement in which it says it has upgraded its high-speed broadband service to reach speeds of 14.4Mbps HSDPA and 5.76Mbps HSUPA across its 3G and HSPA mobile broadband network.
MTN added that its subscribers will soon get access to speeds of up to 21Mbps as the MTN network is upgraded for enhanced HSPA+ services; this will be rolled out strategically countrywide.
Talk is however cheap. It is not particularly useful to consumers to have a single, non-commercial 21 Mbps HSPA+ site live in one area, and without adequate backhaul transmission a 14.4 Mbps air interface will also not bump up mobile broadband speeds significantly.
MyBroadband asked the three mobile providers for more concrete details about their promised 14.4 Mbps HSPA and 21 Mbps HSPA+ network plans, and while they are keen to make ‘press statement based’ promises they became more muted when they had to discuss the details.
The following table provides some insight into where the various providers stand regarding their HSPA and HSPA+ rollouts, and their roll out plans for the World Cup. (‘–‘ = No details).
| Vodacom | MTN | Cell C | |
| Number of subscribers | 1,030,000 | 700,000 | 0 |
| Total number of towers | 7603 | 8500 | 3000 |
| Number of 3G/HSPA towers | 3075 | 2351 | 0 |
| Number of 14.4 Mbps towers | 100 by March | 88 | 0 |
| Number of 21 Mbps towers | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Planned 14.4 Mbps towers by WC | 3075 | 125 | — |
| Planned 21 Mbps towers by WC | — | 50 | — |
HSPA and HSPA+ in SA << discussion
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