Vodacom expands rural 4G coverage
Information and communication technology group Vodacom has extended its rural and deep-rural fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution coverage to more than 16-million people.
The company’s rural coverage acceleration programme has made “rapid progress”, with Vodacom’s second-generation and third-generation (3G) network now available to 99.9% and 97% respectively of the South African population living in rural areas.
Rural coverage of 4G is in excess of 75%,
compared with Vodacom’s coverage in 2013 of just 1% of South Africa’s rural population, while its 3G network covered 64% of the rural population.
In the last two years, the mobile operator built deep-rural coverage sites in more than 400 villages and will host more than 440 sites by the end of this year.
“Vodacom has grown its South African rural network coverage significantly over the past six years, connecting communities which are often isolated from the rest of the country,” says Vodacom Group CTO Andries Delport.
Vodacom’s accelerated network plan for rural areas, which was first introduced in 2016, has resulted in the deployment of thousands of 4G sites in rural areas, despite low population density and various challenges brought on by the lack of available spectrum.
“With rural land making up 98.6% of the total land area in South Africa, Vodacom has prioritised connectivity in these regions, facilitating access to the digital resources which many of us take for granted in cities,” says Delport.
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