MTN has demonstrated the LTE (long term evolution) experience, showing customers at the MTN branded retail store in Sandton City how the technology works.
“In the latest speed test, our LTE download speed was 33.89 Mbps and upload speed at 8.48 Mbps. The speeds are up to 10x faster than 3G and twice as fast as our main competitor. Our LTE customers can upload a photo in six seconds, download a song in four seconds and allows movie downloads in minutes, as well as apps, almost instantly,” notes Krishna Chetty, GM: Radio Optimisation & Planning at MTN.
“MTN’s LTE network has sustained performance, especially on uplink and downloads, offering a seamless user-experience to customers. MTN is at the forefront of innovation and cutting edge technology, evident the MTN LTE network is of world-class standards,” Chetty adds.
The Internet is what is shaping the new world. More and more people are connecting to the internet and Ericsson predicts 50-billion connections by the year 2020. As a result of this we have already seen a drastic increase in data consumption with consumers demanding seamless connectivity. Consumers are demanding broadband anywhere, continuous access to content everywhere and on any device.
In support of our vision to provide our customers with a bold, new digital world, we have greatly invested in our LTE network and have reached many milestone in developing faster communication access, such as establishing new remote hubs, beefing-up existing switches as well as remote hubs in construction.
MTN’s technology evolution has taken it from 99% 2G coverage to 75% 3G coverage and connecting 3-million consumers through LTE to date and the company has re-farmed 10MHz of 1800 Spectrum in most areas.
“The deployment of LTE in Sandton and across the country is part of our strategy to invest in better and faster networks, making our customers’ lives a whole lot brighter by providing them with technology that gives a seamless and enhanced lifestyle experience,” Chetty says.
Customers will have a chance to experience MTN’s enhanced LTE network, which provides ultra-fast mobile Internet speeds while testing smartphones and smart devices in store.
“Consumers will now be able to experience how LTE will enable them to access information, entertainment, apps and services at faster speeds and much more richness and computing capacity. Our LTE network will ensure customers derive a seamless multi-media experienced with live streaming of content, video on demand and enhanced gaming capabilities, to name but a few,” Chetty says.