Mobile network provider Cell C said it will invest R8 billion on its LTE network over the next three years. The development is aimed to deliver high-speed broadband to its customers across South Africa.The announcement was made on 9 April 2015. The company cited that its LTE strategy will focus on metropolitan areas where people work and live. Cell C said the primary commuting areas that fall outside the major metros will remain covered by HSPA+. In February 2014, Cell C said that R2.2 billion has been budgeted for continued investment into the operator in the 2015 financial year, of which LTE forms a key focus. The Cell C has since signed supply agreements with mobile manufacturers such as both Huawei and ZTE.
The manufacturers will drive the rollout of the planned 4,000 LTE sites. Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape were the first areas to get the expanded LTE network. The Cell C has plans to advance areas in Rosebank and Sandton, and then move onto the northern Johannesburg areas. This will be followed by the northern Gauteng areas such as Pretoria and Centurion, and then Benoni, Boksburg, Johannesburg proper, Soweto, Lenasia, and Roodepoort.
KZN areas such as Dolphin Coast, Umhlanga, Chatsworth, Durban South, Pietermaritzburg, and Umlazi will profit from the LTE rollout. The Western Cape is not an exception, areas such as SeaPoint to Durbanville, the airport, Stellenbosch, Simon’s Town through Constantia, Brakenfell, Somerset West, Mitchells Plain, and Paarl will be targeted.
LTE for Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and other provinces is also planned.