The country will be only the second in Africa to support LTE technology.
In an article for Business Report, journalist Asha Speckman writes that Wireless Business Solutions, which is owned by internet service providers iBurst and Broadlink, will be introducing a true high-performance network to the South African marketplace in 2012. After Globacom in Nigeria, WBS will be the second provider in Africa of such technology.
According to WBS’s executive head of regulatory affairs Mlindi Kganedi, the regulator is in the final stage of finalising the project and the company would be able to realise revenues of some R3 billion through the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology that it will be introducing.
LTE technology fourth generation (4G) services is a highly advanced and super-fast communication network that is fully wireless, and it will see upload and download speeds to the internet dramatically increased. While this rollout will see WBS be the first communications company to provide such standard of information transfer in South Africa, cellular giants Vodacom and MTN are hot on their heels. Speckman reports that while the pair of companies are actively investigating and testing their LTE networks, the other large cellular brand, Cell C, isn’t. This isn’t due to Cell C not seizing the opportunity or missing out; far from it, in fact. According to Cell C executive head of networks Steven Boiles, Cell C’s network equipment is LTE-ready and would be able to be upgraded rather easily, which could in future see the rollout of 84mbps release 9 and possible 168mbps HSPA release 10.
The introduction of LTE will see WBS erect some 2500 base stations around the country in the next year, giving far more coverage than ever before and giving many access to true broadband internet at affordable pricing structures.
