MTN South Africa’s modernised network sites in KwaZulu-Natal are now achieving up to 98% network availability daily.
“We have modernised 245 sites in the region and plan to reach 317 before year-end. We are also rolling out 28 new sites this year, including in rural areas. This will enhance capacity and drive quality of connection in the areas of eThekwini,” says Matthew Khumalo, executive: regional operations at MTN.
In addition, 45 new 5G sites have been deployed in some new areas like Hilton, Vryheid, Ulundi, Stanger/KwaDukuza, with consolidation taking place in other areas to expand coverage. This adds to the 246 5G sites in the region.
Khumalo says 50% of the overall network resilience plan in KZN is complete, and the rollout of standby power to cover 36% of the KZN network will be in place by the end of the year.
“Apart from the challenges posed by the return of load shedding, theft and damage at sites remains a challenge. It is making it extremely difficult to provide our customers with a resilient network 100% of the time. The main things being stolen are batteries, power cables even microwave dishes,” says Khumalo.
Furthermore, continuous power faults and delays in repairs are impacting power to sites.
“Network availability during load shedding is often reduced to as little as 86% during the worst load shedding schedules. But this is definitely not the only problem we are facing, and some areas are now even being hit with load reductions,” says Khumalo.
Thanks to an ongoing investment and modernisation drive and the provision of backup solutions, however, MTN in KZN has been able to ensure it has around 98% network availability on the sites which are completed.
With a significant portion of Africa’s population living in rural areas, MTN is committed to expanding its network to underserved communities. MTN Group aims to achieve 95% rural broadband coverage by 2025.
In KZN, MTN is rolling out 14 rural sites this year, led by successful completed sites in rural Greytown, Tugela Ferry rural and Quachas Nek Border Post into Lesotho.
“While mobile has been driving digital inclusion, there remain significant connectivity gaps in areas not yet covered by a mobile broadband network. These uncovered communities – predominantly rural, poor and sparsely populated – are a key focus for us, and I am pleased that in KZN we are making significant progress in closing this access gap,” says Khumalo.