New Vodacom shipping container base stations
Vodacom has developed a system allowing mobile base stations to be retrofitted to shipping container shops, increasing coverage roll-out speed.
Mobile data usage is growing strongly across South Africa, driven by the rapid uptake of smartphones and tablets.
With the increasing availability of low-cost devices, data usage has hit the mainstream and traffic volume growth in townships is running well-ahead of the average growth rate countrywide.
This presents a challenge for mobile networks, with high population density and a relative lack of formal infrastructure making it difficult to build new base stations to address this demand.
Vodacom has developed a new solution to solve this problem, which involves retrofitting a compact base station to the roof of existing shipping container shops.
A standard mobile base station typically has a site footprint of 30 square metres or more. This includes a mast, which is usually 15 to 25 metres tall and supports the radio antennae that connect to mobile devices.
In addition, each site has an equipment storage building to house radio and power equipment. The cost of each installation varies, but is in the region of R1.5 million.
Thanks to the container solution, “new sites can be rolled out quite literally within weeks as opposed to the typical 12-18 month lead time to build new base stations” said Vodacom CTO Andries Delport.
These new base stations are not only smaller, but more energy efficient and cost less than half of a normal base station.
Vodacom plans to roll out five sites as an initial test, the first of which is set to go live in the Alexandra township.
These test sites provide mobile coverage over a radius of up to 1.5km and can service 5,000 subscribers at peak times.
Vodacom shipping container base station
Vodacom shipping container base station
Vodacom shipping container base station
Vodacom shipping container base station
Vodacom container base station
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