Cell C will roll out an additional 100 base stations in Johannesburg over the next three months to increase network capacity and improve quality of service. The first 19 will be operational by the end of August. The move comes amid growing criticism from consumers over the quality of the operator’s coverage in the city.
These new sites are in addition to the operator’s existing 959 sites in Johannesburg.
Some of the areas earmarked for additional sites in Johannesburg include Sandton, Fourways, Bryanston, Morningside, Soweto and Benoni among others.
Cell C will also build an additional 70 indoor-coverage sites in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
CEO Alan Knott-Craig says traffic on the operator’s network has doubled in the past year and that it has been “hard at work rolling out new sites and installing additional capacity to cater for this growth and restore quality”.
“In particular, the network in Johannesburg and Pretoria has been taking strain,” he says.
“In addition to the new sites, we have also embarked on a project to optimise close to 900 existing sites in Johannesburg and Pretoria to improve coverage and minimise interference on the network in high-density areas,” Knott-Craig says. “We expect these activities to be completed by the end of November 2013.”
Knott-Craig adds that Cell C will continue to roll out new sites, upgrade and optimise existing sites and add additional capacity across its network nationally. By the end of 2013, he says Cell C will have 4 340 outdoor and indoor sites operational.
Cell C is also in discussions with Vodacom to implement seamless handover. Where Cell C doesn’t have its own infrastructure it roams on Vodacom’s network, but Knott-Craig has previously accused Vodacom of failing to live up to its end of the agreement by not providing seamless handover despite being contractually obliged to do so. Vodacom, in turn, dismissed Knott-Craig’s accusations. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media