No more slow broadband speeds on mobile devices

MTN has announced it is offering the latest international broadband technology in wireless communication of high-speed data to its contract and Top-Up customers.

Customers are now able to access long-term evolution (LTE) over an extended South African footprint, offering faster broadband speeds and a better Internet experience at no charge.

LTE is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. LTE data networks provide mobile ultra-broadband Internet access.

According to Serame Taukobong, Chief Marketing Officer at MTN, new customers just need to purchase a 128K LTE SIM card and subscribe to the free LTE VAS service, while existing customers with an LTE-capable device can also access LTE at no cost.

MTN SA went live with the commercial availability of LTE in the Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban regions in December 2012, and coverage extended to other major cities in South Africa by the end of the year.

The company has made significant investments preparing for the LTE roll-out by modernising over 1 600 base station sites and activating HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access) on close to 1 000 sites in 2012. Most of the sites have been 10Mhz re-farmed, which will provide faster connection speeds than other local cellular service providers' LTE offerings.

Re-farming of availability, in reality, is playing a key role in enabling cost-effective LTE network migration. By re-using existing 2G and 3G spectrum for LTE, MTN is able to extend the lifespan of its existing spectrum assets and reduce the amount of additional spectrum required by up to a third.

Continues Taukobong: "MTN customers can now access broadband speeds of up to 70mbps - in the palm of their hands. The LTE packages for the prepaid markets are currently under development, and MTN will announce their availability in due time.

MTN has also introduced new data promotional packages contracts, which are:

MTN 3GB plus 2GB free, MTN 5GB plus 4GB free, and MTN 10GB plus 8GB free.

"The Uncapped Lite price-plan with a fair use of 3GB and the Uncapped Pro price-plan with a fair use of 10GB will not be available for new connections from 1 June 2013, and existing customers on these packages will not be impacted for the duration of their contracts.

"We continue to focus on revolutionising broadband for South Africa - ensuring that fast and reliable broadband capacity is made available to all South Africans. We also continuously strive to drive a world-class Internet service," concludes Taukobong.

Customers can access MTN's LTE street-level coverage map by entering their street name on: http://www.mtn.co.za/Travel/Pages/NationalCoverage.aspx.

New packages introduced: