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Telecel aims 74 new 3G sites by year-end

Business
TELECEL Zimbabwe aims to roll out a total of 74 new 3G sites before year-end, as it moves ahead with plans to increase capacity and Internet connection speeds across the entire network.

TELECEL Zimbabwe aims to roll out a total of 74 new 3G sites before year-end, as it moves ahead with plans to increase capacity and Internet connection speeds across the entire network.

BY BUSINESS REPORTER

In a statement yesterday, Telecel Zimbabwe spokesperson Francis Chimanda said the telecommunications company had undergone a massive data network improvement exercise by upgrading and increasing radio sites to boost the availability of 3G coverage in areas that previously had 2G and increasing capacity and Internet connection speeds across the entire network.

Earlier in the year, Chimanda said Telecel upgraded 203 3G sites, mainly in urban areas, to provide even faster 3G Internet speed in these areas.

“Another 60 sites will be upgraded by the end of the year. The mobile operator is aiming to complete a total of 74 new 3G sites before end of this year, leading to a total of 337 3G sites either improved or newly rolled out,” he said.

Telecel has also expanded its 3G network with 44 new 3G sites in its network upgrade project, which the mobile company says is an on-going exercise.

Telecel chief technology and innovation officer, Tendayi Chirokote, said the mobile company was concentrating particularly on areas that have previously not enjoyed 3G data coverage or have had inadequate coverage.

“The current mobile data upgrade exercise is primarily targeting rural and peri-urban areas, where our data coverage has been lagging behind, with many of those sites being 2G sites. The exercise will see many of our 2G sites being upgraded to 3G,” he said.

“In addition to upgrading the current 2G sites to 3G status, the current exercise is also ensuring Internet speeds on our network are being increased in urban areas. The most notable increases in mobile Internet speeds have been recorded in Bulawayo, Northern Harare, Mutare, Bindura, Chinhoyi, Kariba and Rusape,” Chirokote said.