Vodacom 3.6 Mbps HSDPA and HSUPA details
Vodacom launched their long awaited 3.6 Mbps service country wide recently, offering their subscribers three months of ‘free upgraded usage’.
Higher last-mile access is however only one piece of the puzzle, and adequate backhaul bandwidth is a vital ingredient to actual throughput and a sustained good performance.
It is well known that both Vodacom and MTN are struggling to get the required transmission links from Telkom in a timely manner. Vodacom however said that it is confident that it can provide a satisfactory performance to its 3.6 Mbps subscribers.
“Vodacom has made all efforts to procure the required backhaul bandwidth to support this service,” said Vodacom’s Dot Field.
Vodacom COO Pieter Uys further said that users can be confident that their user experience will improve all the time as Vodacom improve its transmission network and provision more bandwidth.
“Backhaul upgrades happen all the time, and are a function of demand and then how quickly the required capacity can be supplied. Vodacom feels at this point in time (6 months after the 3.6 radio upgrade was completed), there is sufficient capacity to ensure an acceptable level of service countrywide. As additional capacity is deployed the levels of service will continue to improve,” Field pointed out.
More than 30 percent of all Vodacom sites have been upgraded to 3G and HSDPA.
Actual throughput
The recent 3.6 Mbps HSDPA upgrade by Vodacom allows for connection speeds between the user terminal and the base station to theoretically reach a maximum of 3.6 Mbps under ideal conditions.
Users are however highly unlikely to experience these speeds as actual throughput is affected by many factors, including the availability of local and international backhaul and signal strength. Vodacom points out that local geographic and electromagnetic anomalies might also adversely impact throughput.
While Vodacom does not want to make any speed claims, it remains upbeat about the expected user experience. “Depending on backhaul, device, coverage and other limitations, it is expected that subscribers will see average throughput speeds of around 2.5Mb/s,” said Vodacom’s Dot Field.
“Members of the popular MyBroadband community are reporting download speeds in the range of 2.2 to 2.8 Mbps. While the whole radio network has been upgraded to HSDPA 3.6, some towers might be lagging in their backhaul upgrades and this will be reflected in lower than 2 Mbps throughputs.”
HSUPA coming
Apart from the recent HSDPA upgrade, the company is also in the process of rolling out HSUPA.
“Vodacom is always upgrading and developing its network and services to offer all our customers choice and the latest communication solutions. The HSUPA project is under way and announcements will be made in the near future, again depending on device and backhaul availability,” said Field.
Vodacom said that initial uplink speeds are expected to be around 1 Mbps although the specification caters for maximum speeds of 2 Mbps.
Paying for higher speeds
A contentious issue among some subscribers is the need to pay higher fees for the higher HSDPA speeds.
This is however something which is encountered throughout the international broadband market, and is generally related to increased capital expenditure to support the higher speed services.
“Vodacom made a substantial investment in upgrading the complete countrywide 3G/HSDPA network to be 3.6 capable. This not only includes the upgrade of the radio network itself to support the 3.6 technology, but also the upgrade of various other elements in the network,” said Field.
“In addition, and accounting for substantial costs, is the increase in monthly operational costs of the transmission network to cater for the higher peak speeds.”
Vodacom said that instead of increasing the cost per MB on data, it settled on an opt-in, Valued Added Service (VAS) model. “This allows subscribers who would like to experience the increased speed and benefits of the new service to do so, while not penalising subscribers who do not wish, or do not have the required hardware, to receive the new service.”
Vodacom pointed out that it has upgraded all its HSDPA sites to HSDPA 3.6, ensuring that all our customers with HSDPA capable devices can experience the new service for free until 30 April 2008.
The cellular provider pointed out that customers will not be automatically charged after the expiry of the 3 month free period.
“Communications will be sent to all subscribers informing them of processes to follow should they wish to continue to receive the service or opt-in at any time. Customers will also have the option to opt-out of using HSDPA 3.6 at any time and will then not be charged the monthly fixed rate of R49,” said Field.
Field said that Vodacom expects a high percentage of users with 3.6 capable devices to continue to use the 3.6 service.
Vodacom did not want to let the cat out of the bag as to what the next twelve months will hold for its broadband user base, but did say that its customers can look forward to a year filled with exciting new services.
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