8ta 21Mbps network live

8ta was launched on 14 October 2010, and at the launch event Telkom CEO Pinky Moholi said that the company was planning to construct a new generation mobile network of 2,000 towers.

Telkom’s National RAN Executive, Brett Nash, said today (20 June 2011) that Telkom has already built 1,200 sites in mainly metropolitan areas, of which 942 sites are ‘on air’. Another 800 towers will be built over the next nine months, with a total of 3,500 to 3,600 towers planned by 2015.

Nash added that their full network uses software definable radios, giving them flexibility and allowing them to upgrade sites with ease.

Zoltan Miklos, Telkom Mobile Executive for Converged Data Networks, pointed out that around 50% of their sites are currently connected to Telkom’s Metro-Ethernet network, giving them easy scalability and adequate capacity for future growth.

Other 8ta sites are served by next generation microwave systems which also provide high capacity bandwidth.

8ta 21Mbps network

To date 8ta’s network only supports speeds of up to 7.2Mbps, but Telkom Mobile Managing Executive Amith Maharaj said last week that they are set to upgrade their network to 21Mbps HSPA+.

While 8ta is still lagging behind Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, which have started rolling out 42Mbps HSPA+ networks, Maharaj said that they are focusing on the end user’s experience rather than peak network speeds.

Maharaj pointed to the fact that their network does not yet have as much traffic as their competitors’ networks, meaning that the average end-user speed compares favourably with other mobile operators despite 8ta’s lower network speeds.

Amith Maharaj

21Mbps network live

8ta today announced that their 21Mbps network is active and has been live for the past two months. Maharaj highlighted that subscribers profiles will only be upgraded from 7.2Mbps to 21Mbps within the next week.

Nash said that the expected end user downlink speeds on their network will be between 8Mbps to 12Mbps.

8ta Base Station image gallery