In Short:
MTN South Africa’s modernization program in Limpopo has significantly boosted network resilience, with connectivity now available in previously isolated villages. The telco aims to achieve 95% broadband coverage by 2025. The 2024 resilience plan includes power backups to minimize outages during load shedding. Improved throughput, reduced drop call rates, and increased data volumes have been reported. Plans are underway to expand 5G coverage in the province. MTN South Africa’s efforts in Limpopo have not gone unnoticed, with neighboring countries taking note. MTN Rwanda has expressed interest in learning from the modernization program’s success to improve their own network resilience and coverage. By collaborating with MTN Rwanda, the company hopes to bring connectivity to even more remote communities across the region.
MTN South Africa (SA) has announced that its nationwide modernisation program has enhanced network resilience in Limpopo. MTN announced on Tuesday that it has now achieved a record 98.33 percent network availability in Limpopo following the network upgrade, as reported by local media.
Enhanced Network Resilience
For example, eleven rural sites in remote villages in the region, previously without network connectivity, are now connected to MTN’s network. This initiative has included villages such as Waterberg and Ka-Mushiyani in the Greater Giyani region.
MTN says it is committed to expanding its network to underserved communities, aiming to achieve 95 percent broadband coverage by 2025.
Improved Network Availability
“We are currently building twelve new sites in Limpopo and enhancing 80 sites through modernization, layer upgrades, and sectorisation to further expand coverage in the province,” says MTN SA.
Additionally, as per the 2024 resilience plan completed in Q1 2024, all sites are upgraded with power backup using batteries or hybrid generators on hub sites to minimise network unavailability during load shedding, load reduction, and extended power failures, the telco said. This has led to improved throughput, reduced drop call rates, and increased data volumes.
MTN highlights that towns like Polokwane, Giyani, and Tzaneen have greatly benefited from the resilience program, especially in terms of speed, with 4G download speeds in Limpopo averaging 10 Mbps.
Future Plans for 5G Expansion
“Overall network availability has improved by 27.18 percent since the start of the resilience program compared to last year. Sites with resilience now have a network availability of greater than 97 percent under stage 4 load shedding,” says MTN SA.
Furthermore, MTN reveals that in 2023, 56 5G sites were activated in Limpopo, with plans to add 60 more 5G sites to the network in 2024.
