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Vodacom readies network for true 4G

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 23 Sept 2014
Vodacom CTO Andries Delport says Vodacom's base station replacement project was the longest and probably the most complex in the company's history.
Vodacom CTO Andries Delport says Vodacom's base station replacement project was the longest and probably the most complex in the company's history.

Vodacom has completed a six-year network refreshment project, replacing over 10 000 of its base stations in a move it says readies the operator to launch new generation mobile technologies like true 4G.

Using temporary spectrum Vodacom was awarded this week (2.6GHz), the operator achieved download speeds of up to 270Mbps today during a demonstration, conducted directly on a mobile handset using carrier aggregation technology. Earlier tests yielded download speeds of over 300Mbps.

"At this speed an entire music album could be downloaded in 10 seconds. This is approximately four times faster than the fastest speed achieved with long-term technology (LTE) on Vodacom's network," says the company.

While LTE technology launched in SA in October 2012, 4G has not been more than a marketing term operators have used when referring to fourth-generation mobile technology. Technically, 4G is LTE-Advanced - defined by the International Telecommunication Union as being capable of download speeds of 100Mbps.

While Vodacom only has the spectrum that has made true 4G speeds possible for a period of a month, the operator says it bears testament to the potential the mobile technology holds. "4G technology is capable of downloading an entire 1GB movie in less than a minute."

SA's operators have long been hamstrung by delays in government allocating high-demand spectrum, a stop-start process that has been on the cards since 2006. Consumers cannot expect to experience true 4G until the process is finalised.

Network overhaul

Vodacom's 4G trials follow the recent completion of the company's multibillion-rand radio network renewal programme, which saw the last of its South African base stations replaced with new equipment last Monday.

Vodacom chief technology officer Andries Delport says the project was "the longest and probably the most complex engineering project in Vodacom's history".

Delport says the new equipment is configured to handle future upgrades, and means reduced energy consumption and a smaller footprint compared to the old technology.

In February 2004, when Vodacom took the decision to add a 3G network, Delport recalls, it took almost a year to launch its first 470 base stations. More recently, he says, the launch of LTE took less than six weeks from making a decision to launch.

"The net effect of this investment project is that Vodacom customers will have an improved network experience with faster data speeds, more stability and fewer dropped calls.

"We're looking forward to rolling this higher speed technology out as soon as additional spectrum becomes available."

Vodacom currently has 10 200 2G , 7 800 3G and 1 800 LTE sites.

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