Vodacom extends its network coverage in Lephalale muni
In order to deliver on their Best Network, Best Service promise, Vodacom is expanding their reach in the Lephalale Municipality.
LIMPOPO -Vodacom Limpopo, joined by Lephalale Municipality Mayor, Jack Moloko Maeko, and his team, embarked on a sod turning ceremony last Wednesday.
These sod turning ceremonies were held at three base station sites Vodacom plans to build in the municipality.
The investment in the Lephalale Municipality is targeted primarily at expanding Vodacom’s 2G and 3G coverage, increasing data speeds, reducing dropped-call rates across the district, and ensuring it continues to deliver on their promise to customers in the province. Vodacom Limpopo Executive Head for operations, Ishmael Mathinya, said: “We embarked on a crucial network investment drive in our province as part of the rural network expansion programme to address coverage gaps in very deep rural areas. As part of this programme, our region will commence the site-build of three base station sites for Friendship, Kitty, and Bangalong in Lephalale Municipality. We have committed ourselves to spending R23 million to build 41 sites that will expand network coverage in the rural areas of Limpopo.
“On a practical basis, this means we’ll bring faster data services to people who currently only have voice services and Edge data services. On top of this, the upgrades have increased network capacity and provide improved voice quality and enhanced mobile data speeds in this municipality”.
Lephalale Municipality is currently one of the fastest growing municipalities in the country and governs a town that has the potential to become the future hub of power generation in South Africa. The municipality is working closely with several stakeholders to build a vibrant city situated at the heart of the Waterberg coalfield.
This coalfield is estimated to contain between 40 and 50% of SA’s remaining coal reserves. The base stations are the radio access network and its key role is to connect to people’s mobile devices. This focus on network investment is continuing into Vodacom’s 2017 financial year, and resulted in more than R165 million being spent in the Limpopo region to expand coverage and increase network capacity and speed in the region during 2016. The region invested R220 million in the 2015 financial year on its networks.
“We’re sending a strong message that Vodacom is taking serious steps to ensure people in rural areas are connected and have access to fast data speeds so they become part of the internet revolution and take full advantage of its positive impacts,” Mathinya concluded.
