Cell C HSPA+ growth update
Cell C shook up the local mobile broadband market towards the end of 2010 when they launched their affordable 21Mbps HSPA+ services in all the major cities in South Africa.
This rollout is continuing, with the company increasing both coverage and capacity in cities which are already covered and rolling out services in new towns and rural areas.
Speaking at the sixth annual IIR Broadband Summit, Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt explained that they currently have over 2,400 HSPA+ towers/sites in the country, of which around 1450 sites are active.
Most of the cities in which Cell C has launched 21Mbps HSPA+ services enjoy well over 95% population coverage, with the exclusion of Johannesburg and Pretoria. In those areas the coverage is around 80%, but Reichelt said that they are working hard to increase this number to 95% in the near future.
One of the challenges for Cell C is backhaul capacity to many of the inactive sites – a problem which Reichelt said is actively addressed. One of the ways is Cell C’s investment in its own fibre network.
Cell C currently has 2,500km of its own dedicated fibre, and is actively growing their fibre network to complement its HSPA+ network.
To boost capacity further Cell C will begin to increase speeds on its HSPA+ radio network to 42Mbps – starting with Port Elizabeth in April 2011. Reichelt explained that 42Mbps upgrades will be done in other HSPA+ covered cities during 2011.
Reichelt concluded that Cell C will not rest until they have reached 67% HSPA+ population coverage by mid-2011 and 97% coverage by the end of the year.
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