Vodacom Announces 43.2Mbps HSPA+ Deployment

Mobile operator Vodacom South Africa has confirmed that it has exceeded 1,000 active 43.2Mbps HSPA+ sites on its network, the South African media reports.


Although the deployment has taken place over time, Vodacom stressed that it did not want to publicise the improved speeds until they had achieved ‘significant’ HSPA+ coverage.


CEO Pieter Uys commented: ‘We have 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’.

According to MyBroadband.co.za Vodacom currently has over 4,300 3G base stations in South Africa, of which 2,650 are 21Mbps enabled, with the remainder supporting transmission speeds of 14.4Mbps.


Further, Vodacom chief technical officer Andries Delport has disclosed that Vodacom plans to have a total of 2,000 HSPA+ towers upgraded to support transmission speeds of 43.2Mbps by May 2011. Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys had previously indicated that Vodacom intends to roll out an additional 1,000 3G base stations during 2011. Despite the increase in peak speeds Vodacom has said that it is focusing on increasing the average performance of its overall network, and will connect 2,000 mobile sites to fibre by the end of the current financial year. 

However, Delport tempered the announcement by conceding that speeds of up to 43.2Mbps are strictly theoretical, and depend on how many people are using the towers, and their proximity to the base stations; in a live HSPA+ test staged on Friday Vodacom demonstrated peak download speeds of around 37Mbps. There will be no increase in costs to existing subscribers, and compatible 43.2Mbps HSPA+ dongles are now available in Vodacom retail stores. Although precise rollout details are unknown, it is believed that most major metropolitan areas will be covered from the outset. 


Vodacom’s announcement came just days before rival Cell C was set to officially inaugurate its own 43.2Mbps HSPA+ network, in Port Elizabeth, on 19 April.

Cell C Launches HSPA Network in East London

South African wireless operator Cell C has confirmed that it has launched its 900MHz HSPA+ network in a third city – East London; the network has already been launched in Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein.

The first phase of the rollout in East London will see 81% of the city’s population covered by the network. A second phase, which will ensure 100% coverage for the city and surrounding areas, should be completed by the end of this year. Subscribers in East London can expect data speeds of between 4Mbps and 7Mbps, although Cell C has claimed that customers elsewhere will be able to achieve speeds of 10Mbps.

In a related story, TechCentral reports that Cell C will launch its HSPA+ network in Cape Town today, describing it as ‘a city that has proved notoriously hard for operators to deliver wireless services’. TechCentral reports that Cell C’s rival wireless providers have experienced serious difficulties when trying to purchase ‘high-sites’ for 3G base stations in Cape Town. It is not known which suburbs will enjoy coverage at launch. Previously, Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt has promised to cover more than a third of South Africa’s population by the end of 2010. According to Reichelt, a single HSPA+ 900MHz transmitter can cover a three to five times larger area than those using a higher band.

Econet Cuts Ineternational Rates by 50%

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has cut its international call rates by up to 50%, meaning users can phone destinations including the UK and South Africa for as little as USD0.004 per second (USD0.24 per minute). Aiming to boost previously flagging international voice revenues, Econet stressed that mobile calls from Zimbabwe to South Africa are now cheaper than the reverse. Zimbabwe’s three cellcos – Econet, Telecel and NetOne – recently introduced a universal per-second billing system for all mobile calls.



Separately, an Econet spokesperson announced that the South African mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) owned by the Econet Wireless Group (EWG) has sold more than 500,000 SIM cards in the last twelve months to Zimbabweans living in South Africa, piggybacking on Cell C's network under the 'Call Home' banner. The spokesperson predicted that Econet Wireless South Africa’s SIM card sales would exceed one million ‘within a few months’. EWG recently set up a similar MVNO service in the UK targetting people calling African countries.

Virgin Mobile To Use Cel C's HSPA+ Network

Virgin Mobile South Africa is planning to launch its own mobile broadband service using Cell C’s HSPA+ network, Cell C has confirmed. Since launch, Virgin Mobile South Africa has been piggybacking on Cell C’s network to provide voice and data services. 

Cell C expects to cover 34% of the South African population with its 900MHz HSPA+ network by end-2010 and aims for 67% population coverage by mid-2011.

Virgin Mobile has not yet announced a launch date for its HSPA+ services, but any time frame will be dependent on Cell C’s own commercial launch; it is currently trialling the network in six cities.

Virgin Mobile’s Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Jonathan Newman promised that consumers can expect ‘the best value for the cellular services that our subscribers use the most’. He added: ‘So expect simple, market challenging broadband offerings designed to meet the real needs of savvy South African consumers’.

Virgin Mobile South Africa is a joint-venture between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Cell C. It launched in 2006.

Cel C To Sell Its Stake in Virgin SA

South African mobile operator Cell C is preparing to conclude the sale of its 50% stake in Virgin Mobile South Africa, TechCentral reports.
Quoting a ‘well-placed industry source’ the South African technology website suggests that the deal is ‘all but done’. Virgin South Africa began life in 2006, as an equal joint venture between Cell C and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

It is not known who is buying the Cell C stake. Early speculation centred on pre-paid airtime provider Blue Label Telecoms. However, Blue Label co-CEO Brett Levy has said that despite initial talks, his company has no plans to purchase Cell C’s stake. New rumours suggest that a local cellular handset distributor could be close to sealing a deal to purchase the stake.

Virgin Mobile will continue to use Cell C’s network even if a sale goes ahead, and hopes to utilise the 3G network the cellco is rolling out. Although Virgin Mobile had a difficult introduction to the South African cellco market, marketing director Jonathan Newman insists that the company has turned a corner, adding that the company now has 300,000 subscribers, 90% of whom are on pre-paid contracts.

World Cup: It's Been A Boom For South African Firms

With the World Cup done and dusted for another four years, South African mobile operators have reported booming traffic volumes during the 2010 tournament. Vodacom enjoyed a 40% increase in SMS traffic over the month, with 600 million text messages sent.

Andries Delport, Vodacom’s executive director of network and information technology, claimed: ‘In some cases, the traffic on a single base station increased by more than 500% compared to just prior to the start of the tournament’.

Delport admitted that Vodacom committed more than 15,000 man-hours to operational support, in order to keep the company’s network running efficiently, including a dedicated network operations centre.

Elsewhere, Cell C saw its traffic boosted to three times the normal levels on in-bound roaming calls. Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt announced that traffic levels were 70% higher than for the same period last year, pinpointing the periods before and after the matches as particularly busy.

Meanwhile, Cell C’s SMS traffic increased by more than 15% during the tournament. MTN - Africa’s first ever global World Cup sponsor - has not been able to provide any figures as of yet, although it is expecting to show a similar increase to its rivals. During the tournament, MTN sold 600,000 specialised tourist SIM cards, although it has not yet confirmed how many of these SIM cards were activated.

Cel C Joins Zain's One Network

Zain has announced the expansion of its ‘One Network’ platform to South Africa in a strategic partnership with Cell C, the country’s smallest cellco. Over 41 million Zain customers across Zain Africa’s 15 mobile operations may now benefit from ‘One Network’ services when visiting South Africa. The ‘One Network’ borderless mobile phone platform enables pre-paid and post-paid Zain customers when travelling to another 'One Network’ partner country to be treated as a local customer in terms of pricing, while retaining home country service functionalities. Now, in South Africa, Zain customers will be able to make calls, send SMS and access the internet (data) at local rates of the visited country and to receive incoming calls at a minimal charge.

The 15 Zain countries that benefit from this service with Cell C in South Africa are: Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

ICASA Releases Bids For Spectrum Bands

South Africa’s Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has released its ‘Document on Spectrum Licensing Framework Regulations and Invitation To Apply for 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz Bands’.

Under the new guidelines, bidding will start at ZAR750,000 (USD98,000). ICASA requires 2.6GHz licensees to achieve population coverage of 50% within two years of being granted spectrum.

Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Neotel and Telkom are all reported to be keen to get their hands on the spectrum, which is suitable for the deployment of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

Cell C, Nokia Bring Football to the Phone

The football fans of South Africa can now have access to multimedia information on football training and techniques via their mobile. The new deal signed between South African mobile operator Cell C and Nike is aimed at creating a starter pack to give quick doze of football related information to both fans and players.


Nike Football+, a digital coaching programme aimed at players who want to improve their game would be offered as the starter pack of the Cell C Nike Football+ along with advice and instructions from top coaches and clubs like Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool or Juventus. In addition, exclusive downloads and Nike events could also be gained access by the subscribers.

Apart from this, several other offers are included like the hosting of Nike Football content on MXit, one of the biggest South African youth portals, also open to Cell C subscribers and named Cell C Locker Room.
News, audio, video, adverts from Nike, football leagues and live updates, scores and goal alerts are featured in the content. The Cell C Nike Football+ starter pack is available at the rate of ZAR 3.99 nationwide.

SA Delays Number Portability To Test Systems

The second and final stage of the introduction of fixed line number portability, which will allow individual Telkom customers to switch networks without losing their numbers, has been delayed by about five weeks. The first phase of fixed line number portability, also known as geographic number portability (GNP), kicked off in May 2009; the second, more important phase, which allows individual numbers to be ported, was meant to begin this week. But a well-placed industry source says implementation has been delayed until 26 April to accommodate final testing of IT systems, among other things.

The Number Portability Company, which already handles number porting for the mobile operators, will manage individual GNP on behalf of the operators. Vodacom, MTN and Cell C have agreed to dilute their shareholding in the company to allow Telkom and Neotel to become shareholders, too. It is understood the deal has already been agreed to by the mobile operators and is now awaiting signature by Telkom and Neotel before full implementation can begin. The Number Portability Company has implemented the necessary systems and is understood to be ready to begin porting fixed line numbers.

Cell C Inks USD378m Contract With ZTE

Chinese equipment vendor ZTE has announced that it has entered into a network supply and a managed services contract with Cell C, South Africa’s third largest mobile operator by subscribers.

Under the USD378 million contract ZTE will provide Cell C with GSM-based equipment while supporting the cellco’s ongoing network expansion.

Cell C is planning to invest heavily in its networks over the next twelve months, spending a total of ZAR5 billion (USD659.98 million) on network upgrades, including the deployment of a 3.5G HSPA+ network.

ICASA To Meet Telecoms Over Service Quality

South Africa's three mobile network operators were called in for a meeting by the country's telecoms regulator yesterday following an increase in complaints about network quality. The issue came to a head when a reality TV show had to delay the announcement of a winner following delays in receiving SMS based votes from viewers.
Some of the affected areas included Germiston, parts of Sandton, Randburg, East Rand, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
According to the regulator, ICASA, the network operators largely cited factors outside their control, such as ongoing theft of copper wire from their backhaul networks and vandalism attacks. They also claimed that delays in setting up new base stations due to " environmental impact studies" is slowing capacity increases.
They also blamed interference caused by illegal and sub-standard cell phone handsets, although no details were provided.
With regard to the TV show, the problem could be attributed to the limited capacity of the transmission line connecting the SMS Centre and the service provider database. The Authority has instructed MTN, Cell C and Vodacom to effect a solution to the problems as soon as possible. Failing which, the complaints raised by consumers would be referred to the Complaints and Compliance Committee (CCC) for adjudication and possible penalties.
The regulator is planning to hold further meetings next month and start publishing a quarterly report on network quality performance.ds

Cell C Gets New CEO

South African mobile operator Cell C has named Lars Reichelt as the company's new CEO. Reichelt has served as CEO of Banglalink, Orascom Telecom's venture in Dhaka, and as CEO of Telefonica 3G Mobile in Zurich.

Outgoing CEO Jeffrey Hedberg will remain as chairman of Virgin Mobile South Africa and work closely with the management team during the company's re-positioning.