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Airtel Zambia rolls out 3.75G data network

By Michael Malakata, ITWeb’s Zambian correspondent.
Johannesburg, 26 Jan 2012

Airtel Zambia has introduced the country's first 3.75G data network that will enable customers to experience high-speed mobile broadband access, make video calls, and watch TV live.

Until now, mobile TV in Zambia was not an option due to poor infrastructure and limited broadband capacity.

Airtel said the technology used to usher in the 3.75G network was the fastest available and will be enormously beneficial for a variety of users, including large corporates, SMEs and the youth.

The data service offers speeds of up to 21Mbps, making Airtel Zambia the fastest mobile Internet provider in the country. The services form part of the company's $250 million rollout plan, which ends in March.

Telecommunications is one of Zambia's fastest growing industries, after mining, with a rapidly expanding mobile phone market that now covers Internet access, mobile banking and mobile commerce.

Airtel Zambia MD Fayaz King said the 3.75G data network is also expected to be rolled out across Africa, in countries where Airtel has operations, including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with the objective of building the largest 3G network across the region.

In Zambia alone, King said the company currently has 280 3.75G sites covering all provincial districts. By the end of 2012, King expects that the company will have rolled out up to 400 sites across the country.

Airtel has already partnered with the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA), the country's telecoms sector regulator, to build more than 350 communications towers across the country under the Universal Access Network Rollout Project, which is financially supported by the Zambian government. The project aims at expanding communications across the country, with under-serviced areas a key focus.

“Our 3.75G platform will allow customers to combine the enormous potential of the Internet with the convenience of mobile phones and other devices. It will also liberate the potential of our youth by enabling faster access to the Internet for learning, sharing, social networking, and creating and accessing content,” King said.

According to King, the broadband network has continued to grow in Zambia, adding that communication has become integral to social and political life.

Zambia's subscriber base for voice communication is still growing, but the growth curve might soon begin to flatten. This has forced operators to compete more aggressively on the provision of data services, even in rural areas.

As a result, King said that, going forward, “voice will become a small part of the company's business, while data will take up a big share”.

The 3.75G network, King said, is not just about faster mobile connections, but will also create new ways to interact, communicate, access information and express ideas, and will provide a new channel for watching television on mobile devices, conducting business and consuming content for entertainment value.

The launch of the 3.75G network is expected to hasten Internet penetration in Zambia in both urban and rural areas that are connected to Airtel's mobile network.

By the end of December 2011, Internet penetration in Zambia was estimated to be below 6% of the entire population of over 13 million, and only 0.29% of corporate entities were known to be using the Internet.

The Zambian government has blamed mobile operators' failure to expand Internet services to rural areas and the high cost associated with getting Internet connectivity as the cause for low Internet penetration.

Gilbert Maimbo, director of planning, press and public relations in the Ministry of Broadcasting and Tourism, said at the launch that the 3.75G network will impact heavily on Zambia's ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals through facilitation of mobile health and education services, e-governance and entrepreneurship.

Maimbo said Airtel has contributed to Zambia's attainment of sustained economic growth, which has reduced the high poverty levels among citizens, as well as accelerated infrastructure development.

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