Several international leaders came out today in support of extending GSM with a fourth frequency band, as the solution for the future of Africa`s telecommunications, at the annual GSM Africa `99 conference in Cape Town. The new GSM 400 frequency band will provide a technologically advanced, cost effective way of reaching previously inaccessible rural areas.
The new GSM 400 frequency band is also the telecommunication technology proposed by Khuluma Cellular 084 for rural areas, in their bid for the third cellular license in South Africa.
"Khuluma 084`s GSM 400 proposal will deliver advanced, customer friendly services to rural areas far more efficiently than the standard 1800 or even 900 MHz." said Terry Rhodes, Executive Director, MSI Cellular Investments (UK) at the GSM Africa 99 conference today.
MSI Cellular Investments and Telecel International are Khuluma 084`s international operators, and their combined networks already cover a third of the African continent. Both operators are African owned and have more than 20 years` experience in rolling out cellular networks into urban and rural Africa.
Telecel was responsible for the first cellular phone call using GSM technology in Africa, in Kinshasa in 1986 and MSI already holds more African GSM licenses than any other company.
Khuluma 084 believes that GSM 400 can cover up to 10 times the area than that covered by GSM 1800. It will also be more effective in the hilly and mountainous areas in South Africa, where the lower frequencies can `bend` around obstructions more effectively than GSM 1800.
"Extending GSM with a fourth frequency band will enable us to achieve our goal of lifting the nation out of the poverty of silence, using leading-edge technology to give ordinary people greater access to each other and the rest of the world," said Khuluma 084 Chairman Thozamile Botha.
"The GSM Africa `99 conference brings together the GSM community to identify and enhance the key drivers for continuing the successful roll-out of the continent`s current and future GSM systems," said Rhodes, whose presentation at the conference today explored investment opportunities and potential for GSM development in Africa.
The GSM Africa `99 conference, which took place from 24 to 25 November in Cape Town, was attended by 300 participants, representing almost 70% of African operators. Interest in the conference was heightened due to the impending announcement of the preferred bidder for the third cellular network in South Africa.
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