The company officially switched on the high-speed network, dubbed 4GS – 4 Great Speed and 4 Great Service – in Port Elizabeth, South Africa as part of its nationwide network rollout. Using world-leading software-defined radio technology, Port Elizabeth will for a short period be the only area in Africa to boast an HSPA+ 900 MHz network, offering data speeds capable of up to 21.6 Mbps.
Cell C CEO, Lars P. Reichelt announced in August that the company would launch its new network, city by city, until nationwide 4GS coverage was achieved. “To date, 1600 HSPA+ 900 sites have been deployed and we are currently running large scale user tests in 10 major cities. We’ll launch the network in each of those cities once we are happy with the network coverage and quality.
He said the first phase of the 4GS network rollout, expected to be completed by the end of 2010, will cover approximately 34% of the South African population. Reichelt explained that the network will be launched on a city-by-city basis and 2 more cities will come “on-air” in September. The company will continue to expand its network rollout and aims to cover 67% of the population by mid 2011.
“What is significant about Cell C’s network, is that the HSPA+ release 7 network is IP across all network elements. This is a first for Africa, and will be rolled out countrywide and not only in pockets. The same Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology will be used across our entire network. It will be HSPA+ all the way from day one. The combination of R7 all IP networking along with the SDR technology will offer our customers a low latency, high capacity network that can evolve quickly as new standards are released.
In addition, the lower frequency of 900 MHz compared to 2100 MHz provides for much deeper and wider coverage with better penetration for indoor users. The result is fewer base stations to cover an area and enhanced in-door coverage.
Reichelt also announced that the company is launching two new prepaid data products to ensure customers get the best deals right away.
“This is an unbeatable offer as customers would be paying as little as 5c per MB for high-speed data. In addition, customers who require more data once they have exhausted their monthly data allocation can purchase prepaid airtime to top-up their data at a cost of 39c per MB.
Reichelt said that the promotion will be extended to other cities when the network is launched in those areas to ensure everbody is able to benefit from this great offer.
5 cents per meg is great, but top ups at 39 cents a meg are outrages, thats R 400.– a gig