Delivering on its ‘Best network, best service’ promise, Vodacom recently hosted a sod-turning ceremony in Lephalale where a base statios will be built.
A delegation from Vodacom Limpopo was joined by the Executive Mayor of Lephalale, Jack Moloko Maeko and his team to celebrate three base station sites that the company plans to build in the Lephalale municipal area.
Vodacom’s investment in Lephalale is targeted primarily at expanding its 2G and 3G coverage, increasing data speeds, reducing dropped-calls rates across the district and ensuring top quality service to all customers in Limpopo.
“We have embarked on a crucial network investment drive in our province as part of the rural network expansion programme so that we address coverage gaps in very deep rural areas. As part of this programme our region will be commencing site development of three base station sites for the areas of Friendship, Kitty and Bangalong. We have committed ourselves to spending R23 million to build 41 sites that will expand network coverage in the rural areas of Limpopo,” Ishmael Mathinya, Executive Head for Operations for the Vodacom Limpopo region explained in a media release.
“This means that we will be bringing faster data services to tens of thousands of 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.”
Lephale 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, according to the media statement.
“We are sending a strong message that Vodacom is taking serious steps in ensuring that people in rural areas are connected and have access to fast data speeds so that they become part of the internet revolution and take full advantage of its positive impacts,” Mathinya concluded.
Story: MARKI FRANKEN
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