In Western Cape, Vodacom invested more than R1 billion in connectivity in the last financial year as the group upgraded its existing base station sites with 3G and 4G across the province to improve coverage and capacity, reaching 99.5% for 3G and 97.6% for 4G.
“The investment includes building 38 new 3G, and 4G-enabled base station sites, including 16 in townships and six in rural communities, and implementing LTE capacity upgrades to over 75% of base stations in the province,” said Vodacom.
Moreover, 50 new 5G base station sites have been built in the region, paving the way for the next-generation technology.
The organization plans to build a “digitally inclusive society” that promotes socioeconomic empowerment and reduces the digital divide by increasing online access to essential services and information, jobs and education platforms, digital marketplaces.
“Last year, Vodacom Western Cape introduced WhatsApp bundles from R2 on the Just4You Town platform where customers across the province could take advantage of discounted voice and data offers.” Consequently, the group reported an increase in data traffic of 13% and a growth in data-active customers of 2.2% in the region.
Unfortunately, Vandalism and battery and cable theft at base station sites continue to be challenges. Vodacom has reported five to seven base station vandalisms each week in the Western Cape. Hence, network availability can be affected, especially during load-shedding, when backup batteries and generators are needed to limit service disruptions.
To mitigate this, Vodacom has upgraded 240 base stations with new batteries and anti-theft infrastructure and moved mobile generations to outlying areas in order to speed up restoration after power failures.
Carol Hall, managing executive, Vodacom Western Cape, said, “As we continue to increase our footprint across the province, and bring our customers exciting technologies, such as Software-Defined Area Network (SD-WAN) and fiber to both business and at home, we remain committed to our social contract to connecting everyone for a better future. Our initiatives in the Western Cape highlight the important role of digital technology in enabling our country to go further together.”
