Right step, right direction. South Africa today got its first LTE network switched on through Vodacom. Vodacom announced that its LTE (4G) service had been officially switched on and was open for business in South Africa. The service is initially available in Johannesburg, with other cities to follow in the near future.
Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub  said âSwitching on commercial LTE services is just one step in a much bigger network transformation. With over 9,000 base stations, Vodacom already has by far the most extensive network in South Africa and on average delivers faster connection speeds. Our challenge isnât keeping ahead of the other operators â itâs keeping ahead of the tidal wave of data demand. Ninety percent of our 3G base stations are 21.6 Mbps enabled, and almost 80% are 43.2 Mbps enabled. By the end of the year we aim to have 500 sites enabled for LTE”
Good stuff..
[pullquote]Contract customers in South Africa with LTE capable devices can activate the service from today by simply calling 111 or visiting any Vodacom shop*. LTE capable devices will be on sale in selected Vodacom outlets before the end of October, with priority going to existing Vodacom customers.[/pullquote]
[pullquote]*The LTE service requires a 64k or 128k SIM card[/pullquote]
Kachwanya, what is the roll-out plan for LTE in Kenya?
What I know is that people at Safaricom have been testing LTE for sometime but I am not sure when they will roll it out. I had sent an email to them but I am yet to get reply on that. I hope they will do it soon. beginning of next year will not be too bad