Cell C, MTN speed up data services
Cell C has opted for Edge (enhanced data rates for global evolution), which carries data three times faster than its existing network.
Cell C will cover 90% of the metropolitan areas with Edge for internet access, multimedia messaging, video and audio downloads at speeds of up to 240kB a second.
Chairman Talaat Laham said the move would make Cell C’s mobile broadband offerings more useful and more pleasurable, and the services would also be more widely available in SA.
Users can activate the service via SMS, via Cell C’s website or by phoning its call centre.
The fees range from R2 for 1MB of data with no monthly fee, or R1,55 for 1MB of data with a monthly fee of R60.
Cell C is spending R1bn this year to expand its network coverage and range of data services.
Meanwhile, its rival, MTN, has begun testing a different technology, high-speed downlink packet access, also known as 3G Evolved.
Trials are being conducted with some corporate customers to see if it lives up to expectations of better speed and bandwidth.
The technology is designed for mobile and interactive television, enhanced video telephony, multiplayer gaming and the sharing of information.
A 3MB file should take 12 seconds to download, compared with 68 seconds using a normal 3G (third generation) network.
As the use of data services increases and new applications are developed, customers will require faster speeds and a higher quality of service, says Ashraff Paruk, MTN’s GM of products and innovation.
High-speed downlink packet access promises a download speed of 1,8MB a second with a potential of 14MB.
MTN expects to launch it commercially in mid-2006 after the trials have been assessed.
Last week, MTN’s chief technology office, Karel Pienaar, told the GSM Africa conference in Cape Town that the heavy investment in high-speed technologies still centred mainly on the ability to carry voice calls.
While the technologies certainly allowed faster downloads for the minority of people using the fancy new services, they also let the networks handle far more voice calls to ease congestion and improve the quality of service overall, he said.
Data accounts for less than 6% of the cellular networks’ revenue.
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