Vodacom has begun offering commercial 4G services in parts of the Western Cape. Coverage is available in the CBD, Stellenbosch, along the Atlantic seaboard (including Camps Bay), at the Waterfront and at Century City. Vodacom says more sites are planned for the region for early next year.
4G coverage, based on long-term evolution (LTE) technology, is already available from Vodacom in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.
Vodacom launched 4G/LTE in October, albeit with only 70 sites live at the time. It then began limited service in Durban last month.
Vodacom’s chief technology officer, Andries Delport, says that since the company launched commercial LTE services in Gauteng, in October it has “lit up” seven LTE sites per day on average and has reached its year-end target of 500 towers earlier than anticipated.
He says Vodacom now has 5 000 sites capable of supporting both LTE and faster 3G connections.
Because the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has yet to allocate new spectrum for LTE, Vodacom and rivals Cell C and MTN are “refarming”, or reallocating, part of their allocations in bands they already have access to.
Vodacom’s LTE service is only available to its postpaid customers but will be made available to prepaid customers and those with top-up accounts next year. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media
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