MTN’s mobile broadband network
In early February MTN South Africa announced that 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 it will not be charging a premium for the higher access speeds, therein enabling its subscribers to enjoy the improved performance of the network at the same price.
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. MTN customers using the MTN F@stlink E230 modem can already benefit from these improved speeds and the new MTN F@stlink E1820 USB modem, which supports HSPA+ up to 28.8Mbps downlink and 5.76Mbps uplink, will be available for sale in March 2010.
MTN SA also announced that in 2009 it invested R7.1-billion to upgrade its network and infrastructure, which now covers 98% of the country. In 2009 496 2G sites were activated, together with 659 3G sites, providing around 50% of the population with MTN 3G coverage.
These announcements followed an earlier announcement from Cell C that it will be investing in a 4G network, and is planning to offer its subscribers 21 Mbps HSPA+ services to subscribers. Not to be outdone, Vodacom announced that it already has a live 21 Mbps HSPA+ site live in Midrand, and is planning to have numerous 14.4 Mbps HSPA and 21 Mbps HSPA+ sites operational by mid-2010.
MTN provides details
The Cell C announcement is very thin on details, especially regarding its 4G network and how it will overcome the various hurdles associated with high speed mobile Internet in SA, one of the biggest hurdles being getting adequate transmission capacity to support the higher speeds.
Vodacom is also very thin on details about its planned 14.4 Mbps and 21 Mbps HSPA+ plans, merely indicating that they will have 100 14.4 Mbps HSPA sites live by March.
MTN is however more forthcoming regarding its mobile broadband network plans, and has provided MyBroadband with exact details about its current network status and short-term network plans.
According to MTN it currently has 8500 2G and 3G sites of which 2351 are HSPA enabled. The company points out that their mobile broadband network currently covers around 50% of the South African population and they have plans to further extend their reach.
MTN also highlighted that tower numbers alone can be a deceiving metric when looking at coverage, as other factors like network optimization and vendor software & functionality directly influence coverage.
At this stage MTN has a total of 400 live 7.2 Mbps sites with full transmission capacity, and another 300 sites are planned to go live when transmission is supplied.
When it comes to 14.4 Mbps sites MTN has 88 live sites, and is planning to increase this number to 125 over the next few months.
MTN is also planning to have 50 21Mbps HSPA+ sites active in time for the 2010 World Cup. These sites will be placed strategically in key areas like the 2010 stadiums, airports and high density areas.
MTN’s mobile broadband network << Discussion
Loading ...