10 facts about LTE in SA

Long-term evolution (LTE) has been making headlines in the telecommunications industry as operators around the world gear up to make the 3G successor more widely available.  On Wednesday, SA’s first mobile operator, Vodacom, broke LTE ground in the country with its commercial launch of the technology, in Johannesburg. While only certain Vodacom customers will be able to experience the superior speed network, it is a portent of things to come as the country’s other operators are set to go live in the near future too.

Here are 10 facts about LTE, and where SA’s operators are terms of its deployment:

1. LTE allows download speeds of more than double those of current 3G technologies like High-Speed Package Access (HSPA) and Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). 2. LTE is not 4G – it is a telecommunications standard for high-speed wireless data access. Fourth-generation wireless communication services are based on this technology, and so it has become widely referred to and marketed as “4G”, although technically it is 3.9G (beyond 3G, but pre 4G). 3. The Global Mobile Suppliers Association’s (GSA’s) Evolution to LTE update last week revealed 351 operators are investing in LTE – that is already 41% higher than it was a year ago.
4. Worldwide, 105 operators have launched commercial LTE networks in 48 countries. 5. Movicel of Angola and MTC of Namibia were the first operators in Africa to deploy LTE – in April and May of this year, respectively. 6. MTN is hot on Vodacom’s heels and is set to switch on a commercial LTE network by year-end in the three urban areas (Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban). 7. Telkom’s mobile arm 8ta has been testing LTE for about a year and is offering qualifying members of the public in Gauteng a free trial, between November and the end of March next year. 8. Cell C will roll out LTE towers in select areas over the next few months, covering areas where there is fibre to the base station. 9. As it stands, the spectrum issue is still unclear. Earlier this year the Independent Communications Authority of SA postponed the allocation spectrum in the high-demand ranges indefinitely.
10. Both Vodacom and MTN are re-farming spectrum in the 1 800MHz band for LTE rollout, as the government has yet to grant mobile operators spectrum for LTE.

MWEB Business launches Business Uncapped ADSL Lite

MWEB Business is continuing its assault against the high cost of quality Internet connectivity with the launch of a fresh, uncapped suite of business-class connectivity options.

Called MWEB Business Uncapped ADSL Lite, the new solution delivers the stability, redundancy and round-the-clock technical service essential for any business, at a surprisingly low price. It is available in a choice of four line speeds from 1Mbps up to 10Mbps.

According to MWEB Business GM, Andre Joubert, Business Uncapped ADSL Lite is a logical addition to MWEB’s original suite of high-end uncapped Business ADSL products that the company introduced to the market two years ago.

“By freeing businesses from the constraints of capped ADSL connectivity, MWEB changed the way businesses in South Africa use the Internet today. For example, it has made cloud computing a feasible reality. In addition, thanks to uncapped Business ADSL, technologies like VOIP, videoconferencing, remote backup and archiving are no longer ‘nice-to-haves’ but essential productivity enhancers for many businesses,” he says.

“However, we recognise that in today’s extremely tough economic conditions, there’s an enormous number of businesses that are being excluded from the cloud revolution, because they cannot afford the high-end uncapped, unshaped and unthrottled business connectivity solutions currently available. And the low-end, consumer-type alternatives are simply not suitable for business use.”

MWEB Business Uncapped ADSL Lite bridges this divide.

By harnessing the speed and power of MWEB’s robust network, it delivers the essential reliability, redundancy and 24/7 technical support businesses large and small have come to expect from MWEB Business.

“MWEB Business Uncapped ADSL Lite users will also experience unthrottled uncapped data downloads and uploads, and will receive a business-class router as part of the package. What they won’t get – which users of our high-end business ADSL solution do – is static IP addresses.

“In addition, the product is designed to prioritise business data over other types of traffic, such as peer-to-peer downloading,” Joubert explains. “Non-business-critical traffic will therefore not perform at the same levels as with our fully unshaped product.”

The new MWEB Business Uncapped ADSL Lite products are available as standalone solutions, or bundled with ADSL line rental.

Businesses that sign up now as a new customer will get the data and line rental package for free until 1 January 2013 (excludes Telkom Voice line rental). Terms and conditions apply.