Vodacom has launched commercial fourth-generation long-term evolution (4G/LTE) services in parts of Durban and intends to extend the network to Cape Town before the end of the year. The operator has already switched on 4G/LTE, which offers signficiantly improved connection speeds, in parts of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The company says it has more than doubled the number of 4G base stations on its network in under a month and today has more than 400 live. It plans to have 500 sites active before the end of the year.

Alberts Breed, Vodacom’s managing executive in Kwa-Zulu Natal, says 4G/LTE has been rolled out to a “small number” of sites, mainly around the Umhlanga area north of Durban.

“We plan to grow this number in the coming months,” he says. “In fact, the plan is to have over 60 sites up and running across KwaZulu-Natal by the end of the first quarter of next year.”

Currently, 4G/LTE services are only available to Vodacom’s contract subscribers but will be available to top-up and prepaid users next year.

Rival MTN has said it plans to launch commercial services of its own before the year is out, and will have as many as 500 base stations ready by switch-on.

Both operators are “refarming”, or reallocating, spectrum assignments they’ve used previously for 2G voice services.

Meanwhile, Vodacom supplier Nokia Siemens Networks claims the operator has become the first in Africa to combine voice with LTE services.

Vodacom commissioned Nokia Siemens to provide a system that allows 4G users on its network to make voice calls and send and receive SMSes, too. The technology allows fallback to traditional circuit-switched technology in Vodacom’s network.