Despite Vodacom offering\u00a095% population coverage\u00a0of at least 1Mbps, spectrum licensing is seriously hampering the roll-out of the company’s 4G and LTE-A services.<\/p>\n
Speaking at an event in Sandton on Tuesday, Vodacom CTO Andries Delport said that the number of LTE users drops significantly when compared to general coverage, with only\u00a044% of the population able to access these higher speeds on Vodacom’s network.<\/p>\n
He noted that this was primarily due to the large rural areas across South Africa with\u00a0low population densities – some boasting as few as 4 people per square kilometre.<\/p>\n
“We have run out of spectrum,” he said.<\/p>\n
“If you look at the 44% rural coverage on 4G and the reason we cannot expand it, it\u2019s because we don\u2019t have spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, while Vodacom was\u00a0able to refarm 2G and 3G network capacity to roll out LTE in the country’s largest cities, it can\u2019t currently do so in rural areas.<\/p>\n
Despite the spectrum limitations, Delport said that Vodacom planned to roll out more 3G coverage on its 900MHz spectrum.<\/p>\n
He said that this, alongside the spectrum locked behind the digital TV migration process, was more suitable for rural areas than the current\u00a02,100MHz spectrum.<\/p>\n
He further reiterated that it was not a problem with Vodacom’s tower infrastructure or planning but simply that the company did not have\u00a0the appropriate spectrum.<\/p>\n