SA's largest cellular operator Vodacom has launched its faster network, only days before Cell C is set to announce improved speeds.
The companies have been facing off in an advertising war before the Advertising Standards Authority since Vodacom re-branded to have the same look as its parent company, Vodafone.
On Saturday, Vodacom said it had upgraded 1 000 base stations in major cities in SA to allow for speeds of up to 43.2Mbps. The towers now operate at double the previous speed. Vodacom says another 1 000 towers will come online at the end of next month.
Cell C is launching its faster network, on the 900MHz band, in Port Elizabeth tomorrow.
Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys says: “We've actually had the technology up and running for some time, but we wanted to have a critical mass of at least 1 000 base stations before flipping the switch to allow consumers access at up to double the speed. We wanted to make sure that we had the service available in more than just one city.”
Uys says the company has 4 200 3G towers, with plans to add another 1 000 this financial year. He says Vodacom wants a large footprint across SA, but is limited by the amount of available spectrum. Vodacom operates in the 2.1GHz band.
Because of the limited spectrum, Vodacom had to find other ways of improving the network by using smarter technology. “It's in Vodacom's interest to quickly upgrade capacity.”
However, Delport concedes that speeds of up to 43.2Mbps are “theoretical” as this depends on how many people are using the towers, and proximity to base stations. “In reality, you'll probably never see 43Mbps.”
By the end of May, Vodacom expects to have covered 40% of the population with 43.2Mbps, says Delport. In the next three years, the company will have covered 90% of SA's population, and will have more than doubled the number of base stations.
Compatible modems are on sale at Vodacom shops for under R1 400 and free data contracts of 1GB and higher. There is no additional cost to use the faster speeds, and normal data bundles can be used to access the service.
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