The widest 3G network in South Africa battle

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that Vodacom may not claim to have the “widest 3G network” in South Africa. This followed a complaint by MTN.

A Vodacom print advertisement stated that “Get extra data on the widest 3G network … surf more, download more and stay connected 24/7”.

MTN lodged a complaint with the ASA against Vodacom’s “widest 3G network” statement, arguing that the claim is unsubstantiated and misleading.

MTN said that Vodacom may have the widest coverage in some regions, but it does not have the widest coverage across all regions.

MTN further said that coverage methodology needs to be considered when assessing such claims.

Vodacom responded, saying that it has a substantially wider network than MTN. This, the company said, is evident from the published coverage numbers by all networks, and the actual number of towers deployed by each network.

Vodacom showed that it deployed 6,649 3G towers, whereas MTN has 4,768 3G towers. “These published figures also support the published claims of 90.1% (Vodacom) and 67.7% (MTN) 3G coverage respectively,” Vodacom said.

The ASA was not convinced that a higher number of 3G towers automatically translates into wider coverage.

source:mybroadband.co

the widest 3G network in south africa battle

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that Vodacom may not claim to have the “widest 3G network” in South Africa. This followed a complaint by MTN.

A Vodacom print advertisement stated that “Get extra data on the widest 3G network … surf more, download more and stay connected 24/7”.

MTN lodged a complaint with the ASA against Vodacom’s “widest 3G network” statement, arguing that the claim is unsubstantiated and misleading.

MTN said that Vodacom may have the widest coverage in some regions, but it does not have the widest coverage across all regions.

MTN further said that coverage methodology needs to be considered when assessing such claims.

Vodacom responded, saying that it has a substantially wider network than MTN. This, the company said, is evident from the published coverage numbers by all networks, and the actual number of towers deployed by each network.

Vodacom showed that it deployed 6,649 3G towers, whereas MTN has 4,768 3G towers. “These published figures also support the published claims of 90.1% (Vodacom) and 67.7% (MTN) 3G coverage respectively,” Vodacom said.

The ASA was not convinced that a higher number of 3G towers automatically translates into wider coverage.

The ASA said that, for a claim of having the widest 3G network to be substantiated, Vodacom needs to show that:

1. It is correct to include all sites that transmit at -100dBm in its “3G” calculations;
2. It is true that Vodacom has more of these sites than any of its competitors; and
3. That these sites are spread wider and more comprehensively across the country than any of its competitors.

“At best, the information shows that Vodacom has more sites transmitting at -100dBm than MTN, but this is as far as it goes,

source: www.mybroadband.co

the widest 3G network in South Africa battle

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that Vodacom may not claim to have the “widest 3G network” in South Africa. This followed a complaint by MTN.

A Vodacom print advertisement stated that “Get extra data on the widest 3G network … surf more, download more and stay connected 24/7”.

MTN lodged a complaint with the ASA against Vodacom’s “widest 3G network” statement, arguing that the claim is unsubstantiated and misleading.

MTN said that Vodacom may have the widest coverage in some regions, but it does not have the widest coverage across all regions.

MTN further said that coverage methodology needs to be considered when assessing such claims.

Vodacom responded, saying that it has a substantially wider network than MTN. This, the company said, is evident from the published coverage numbers by all networks, and the actual number of towers deployed by each network.

Vodacom showed that it deployed 6,649 3G towers, whereas MTN has 4,768 3G towers. “These published figures also support the published claims of 90.1% (Vodacom) and 67.7% (MTN) 3G coverage respectively,” Vodacom said.

The ASA was not convinced that a higher number of 3G towers automatically translates into wider coverage.

source: www.mybroadband.co

Tigo Tanzania wins GSMA highly commended award in Africa

Tigo Tanzania  has won the Highly Commended Award under the Best Network Improvement category, awarded by global mobile association - GSMA during the continent's prestigious and largest annual communications Congress & Exhibition, Africa Com, held recently in Cape Town, SA.

Tigo was short listed under the Best Network Improvement Category as the sole mobile operator in Africa in the category.

Commenting on the award, Tigo Tanzania's Head of Operations, Mr. Deon Geyser, said that having won in this category is not only an honor for Tigo Tanzania but also a demonstration of its continuous commitment towards quality improvement in mobile services and solutions in the country.

"We have invested heavily in the past year in network quality so that we make our services more accessible and reliable to our valuable customers. Tigo is now available everywhere in the country and at a better quality, therefore this award is a great celebration towards this achievement." he said.

According to Mr. Geyser, Tigo's improvement on network quality is a result of the management teams' turnaround strategy which started implementation in December 2012 across all Tigo operations. "This strategy has led to incredible results such as a 70% reduction in network outage time, 63% reduction in call drops and 300% increase in data throughput."

"Tigo has equally invested in coverage by reaching out to more rural areas and customers across all 30 regions in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. This nationwide presence allows our customers to enjoy calls with better voice enhancement, use data with better 3G internet connectivity and have more reliable Tigo Pesa services where now they can send and receive money with less inconveniences, thus giving them another big reason to smile," further stated Mr. Geysor.

Tigo Tanzania's Head of Planning and Optimization, Mrs. Halima Idd, further explained that the company successfully managed an extremely focused Quality Transformation Program and invested money and other resources into the right areas.

"During our surveys we got a lot of feedback from our customers that our network quality needed improvement, this for us meant urgent measures must be taken. We are a customer centric company and that is in the core of our operations where we develop products and services around key findings from consumer understanding and feedback," Mrs. Idd explained.

She continued, "The Quality Transformation Program that we started implementing in 2012 included; right investments into network resilience, coverage and capacity; controlled changes and project execution; as well as improved operational management. However, all this was complimented by a great team effort internally, a robust organizational structure and key strategic partnerships to achieve the results that were required."

In September, Tigo kicked off an activation caravan dubbed 'Tigo Smile tour' to celebrate the widespread network coverage and reach in rural Tanzania due to launch of more than 280 quality towers in all 30 regions this year.

source: www.zawya.com

O3b's "fiber in the sky" to provide broadband to rural , uncovered half of the world

With East Africa being the last region in Africa to receive undersea fiber connectivity in mid 2009, it is largely taken for granted that most of Africa now has access to broadband connectivity. That, however is far from the case. Senior Vice President Commercial for SES Africa, Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, says there are at least 300 million Africans who remain out of coverage of existing broadband technology, and the number could be as high as 500 million to 700 million.

Globally, slightly less than half of the population is estimated to be uncovered by existing networks, leading to the formation of a consortium known as the Other 3 billion, or O3b in short. O3b looks to provide connectivity to the uncovered half of the global population, most of whom are located in the developing/emerging markets of Latin America, Africa and Asia.

The O3b consortium consists of SES, the satellite firm as majority shareholder, with other shareholders including financiers such as the financing arm of Mo Ibrahim Foundation and notable firms such as Google, who is a minor shareholder. Google is notable here for their effort to get Internet to every part of the globe which ensures their advertising network reaches as many eyes as possible.

O3b is looking to tackle the challenges of providing connectivity through current satellite infrastructure by coming up with an innovative set up. Rather than have geostationary satellites - satellites that are fixed in one position providing coverage to a certain area of the globe - O3b plans to have rotary satellites situated around the equator.

The rotary satellites will be in their own orbit and will keep revolving around the earth, such that the portion of the earth's surface covered by each satellite will change every few hours. A number of satellites will be deployed, such that at any one time, the target areas mentioned above are covered by one of the O3b satellites.

By virtue of their positioning and set up, the O3b satellites will be much closer to earth than the current satellites. This may lead to a reduced area of coverage - Ibrahima says each satellite will cover a diameter of 700 kilometres of the earth's surface - though this will be offset by the high bandwidth that the satellites will provide, 700 megabits per second to 1.2 gigabits per second, with the capacity set to rise in the future as technology improves.

source: www.allafrica.com

Rwanda rolls out free wireless

It's a scene any visitor would be surprised to see deep in central Africa: a tech-savvy consumer sitting in a restaurant and surfing a broadband connection with a smartphone, tablet and laptop.

But in a region long associated with war and genocide, Rwanda is busy trying to re-invent itself as a regional high tech hub by rolling out free citywide and eventually nationwide wireless connectivity.

"I came to use the internet. Sometimes I download video and books," said South Korean development worker Lee Il-mo, a resident of the Rwandan capital Kigali for the past two years.

"Before I went to restaurants or coffee bars and I had to buy a drink, but here it's a free area," he said, sitting in Kigali City Tower, a zone slated as the city's new tech hub and the one of the first steps of the so-called 'Smart Kigali' project.

Last month, the Rwandan government announced it had started to cover the lush green, rolling hills of the capital with wireless hotspots.

This was the first step of a plan to provide wifi coverage to all schools and public buildings, markets, bus stations and hotels in the city and, in the long-term, to the entire country.

Rwanda's minister in charge of Information Technology, Jean Philibert Nsengimana, said he wanted to see the plan "accelerate growth of the internet sector" and attract more investors.

"Connectivity is one of the most important draws for business in this age of digital economy," he said, asserting that free wifi was merely a step in the direction of a much bigger infrastructure goal -- that of fourth generation, or 4G, access.

In June, the Rwandan government signed South Korea's KT Corp to build a 4G network that it wants delivered to 95 per cent of the country, up from the estimated 10 per cent who currently have 3G access.

"Broadband access," said Nsengimana, "has to be considered as an essential, just like water and electricity".

For Rwanda's government, the stakes are high.

President Paul Kagame and his ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which has dominated Rwanda since ousting Hutu extremists and ending the genocide nearly 20 years ago, is attempting to push through a dramatic transformation from trauma to economic success story.

The country is ranked as one of the least corrupt countries in Africa, while the World Bank's ease of doing business index for 2013 ranked Rwanda 52nd out of 185 countries, the third best in sub-Saharan Africa.

au.finanace.yahoo.com