8ta LTE growth continues
8ta has deployed active and on-air LTE sites in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, and will continue to grow this network to include other large cities.
“We are currently in the first phase of LTE rollout in the major metropolitan areas. The second phase continues deployment in these metropolitan areas for densification [sic], as well as deployment in larger cities,” said a spokesperson for Telkom.
The rollout of its LTE network is not without its challenges. Telkom said that the main challenges include obtaining permission to deploy mobile base stations on new and existing mobile operator towers, power availability on existing towers, and the lengthy process to acquire and deploy new (greenfield) sites.
8ta is currently running an LTE trial in Johannesburg and Pretoria, but the company would not provide details about the typical speeds achieved by users on this trial.
“LTE offers higher peak rates (and average rates) compared to 3G. The average download a user should be able to achieve will be a function of the radio conditions, location, and distance of the user in relation to the base station, device type, busy hour in the day, etc,” said Telkom.
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