Telkom plans to roll out ‘real’ 4G

Telkom has announced that it will begin the roll-out of LTE Advanced, which will offer speeds of up to 3Gbps, in over 50 suburbs across South Africa.

Telkom today announced it will begin the roll-out of its LTE Advanced (LTE-A) connectivity, in more than 50 suburbs across South Africa, by the end of this year.

Considered to be the next evolution of high speed wireless connectivity, LTE-A can potentially offer speeds of up to 3Gbps. Telkom has started its LTE-A journey and is currently upgrading its network to offer customers peak speeds of over 200 Mbps, with a view to developing its network to ultimately deliver LTE-A peak speeds of 3Gbps.

Telkom Chief Operating Officer, Dr Brian Armstrong said, “LTE-A is an integral part of Telkom’s high speed broadband strategy. We believe that, in the coming years, LTE-A will become the de facto mobile data standard.

“Our LTE-A platform runs on the 2.3GHz spectrum, which is unique to Telkom. The spectrum allows us to offer efficient, high quality and stable LTE-A technology, to our customers. The speeds offered on this technology are comparable to those offered over fibre connections, therefore offering an unparalleled wireless Internet experience.

Dr Armstrong said Telkom aims to have the first areas connected during the course of December. “We anticipate the initial roll-out will be complete by March 2015. The precise LTE-A product offerings and prices are still to be announced, but we can confirm we will offer bigger bundles and greater speeds for an enhanced wireless connectivity experience,” he said.

The initial LTE-A roll-out will enable peak connectivity speeds of over 200Mbps to selected suburbs identified in Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape. The specific suburbs to be covered in this initial roll-out are:

Details regarding the LTE-A packages and pricing of the services will be made available in due course.

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