MTN SA will begin offering firmware and operating system updates for HTC smartphones over the air.

“Though we are initially targeting the HTC Desire, other phones will soon follow suit,” says MTN SA chief marketing officer Serame Taukobong.

Firmware updates can be downloaded directly through a user’s 3G data connection or over Wi-Fi. The updates will include the latest Android software updates.

Be warned, though: data charges will apply for updates done over the air. And, given that the Android updates could run into many tens of megabytes, this could prove expensive on certain tariff plans. (Firmware updates will be much smaller.)

If downloads are interrupted, they will resume via a recovery mode, says Taukobong, so consumers won’t have to restart downloads from scratch.

Leaf, which distributes HTC in SA, says the roll-out will extend from the popular Desire to the Wildfire and Hero models early in the new year.

The company says other HTC smartphones will get the updates during the course of 2011.

It’s not clear if Leaf is working with other cellular providers like Vodacom to offer over-the-air updates. A Leaf spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. — Staff reporter, TechCentral