Unitel and Ericsson demo Africa’s first LTE-Advanced technology

Ericsson and Angola's leading telecommunications provider Unitel, successfully demonstrated LTE Advanced (LTE-A) Carrier Aggregation technology for the first time in Africa.

The demonstration was made on both 1800MHz and 900MHz spectrum bands on a commercial network, using a commercial terminal, and took place on December 18, when Unitel transferred data across its live network in Luanda, Angola carrying commercial traffic.

LTE Carrier Aggregation is the next step in the evolution of high-speed mobile broadband services, enabling operators to make the most of their existing spectrum assets by combining multiple spectrum bands to enable higher mobile broadband download speeds.

Amilcar Safeca, Deputy CEO of Unitel says: “Unitel is always innovating to enhance the customer experience. With the global leap towards higher data access speeds for sophisticated video and mobility services, we are enhancing our network to ensure we continually provide high-quality services to our high demanding subscriber base. With this demo we are well on the way to launching in the near future the most advanced mobile network in Angola and perhaps Africa. We are working with Ericsson to make this happen.”

source: www.telecomtiger.com

Huawei embroiled in contract fight in Zimbabwe

Yet another African case involving a Chinese supplier in alleged fraud over a government contract has wound up in court, with Secure Dynamics Zimbabwe charging that Huawei and several other tech companies did not follow proper procedures in a US$218 million telecom tender.

Secure Dynamics, a provider of security and telecommunications technology, has sued the Zimbabwe State Procurement Board, Huawei and operator NetOne over a $218 million telecom tender awarded to Huawei. The suit, filed in an administrative court, seeks to compel the board, NetOne and Huawei to issue a statement detailing how the tender was awarded.

Secure Dynamics says the tender was marred with corruption and wants the court to void the contract. Secure Dynamics also wants the court to compel the country's Anti-Corruption Commission to launch an investigation into how NetOne contracted Huawei to supply equipment for the tender and the manner in which the State Procurement Board awarded the contract.

The tender involves telecom equipment for 2,000 base stations, which would enable NetOne, the state owned operator, to upgrade equipment as well as roll out new base sites to provide broadband services with technology including LTE.

Secure Dynamics also accuses Huawei of inflating the cost of the tender. When the State Procurement Board expressed concerns over price inflation, Huawei decided to lower the cost of the tender to $254 million before lowering it further to $218 million. The reduction puzzled the State Procurement Board and raised suspicion of how Huawei Technologies made a reduction of $80 million from the initial price of $298 million for the same equipment.

Huawei Technologies Zimbabwe officials could not be reached for comment.