Lowveld signal difficulties explained
MBOMBELA - Several Lowveld residents have been experiencing signal difficulties since the nationwide lockdown commenced.
After receiving numerous queries from readers about their signal, Lowvelder reached out to them in a Facebook post to obtain more information surrounding the issue, such as the area in which they are based and the network provider they currently use.
The answers that were provided varied and included network providers such as MTN, Cell C and Vodacom. The paper contacted these network providers to identify the problem and inform readers.
According to Jacqui O’Sullivan, executive of corporate affairs of MTN South Africa, it is experiencing network issues in Mbombela and surrounding areas due to a major break caused by a road construction company in its attempts to widen the road at the corner of Kaapsehoop Road and Dr Enos Mabuza Drive. This has resulted in the disruption of two cell towers serving the Oppikoppi Estate and i’langa mall sections.
O’Sullivan said, “Our technicians have been working tirelessly to reroute network traffic to nearby cell towers. Furthermore, we have noted poor network quality due to load-shedding, particularly at two cell towers serving the Kaapsehoop Road section. MTN would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
Angela Nale, a media relations specialist of Cell C South Africa, said the areas for which the queries were issued are largely covered by Cell C and its roaming partners. Nale said every effort is being made to ensure that coverage is maintained and made widely available. “All network-related queries should be logged via our call centre. They are being handled on a case-by-case basis.”
Vodacom says it is committed to continue with its commitment to improve its service to its Mbombela customers. Zakhele Jiyane, the service provider’s managing executive of Mpumalanga, said plans to improve infrastructure are often hampered by municipal approval processes.
“An example is the tower on the Matumi Golf Estate. Telkom has obtained approval from Matumi to erect a base station inside the estate. Vodacom customers will also benefit from the tower, because we will share it with Telkom. The process is now hampered by the municipal approval process,” he said.
The increased Internet usage by people working from home also influenced the quality of connectivity, Jiyane said.
But a bit of good news is the fact that a tower at the new Valley Hyper Shopping Centre in Valencia will be operational soon.
In general, Jiyane said vandalism remains an issue. “People steal our batteries at our towers and then when there are loadshedding or power interruptions, we have no back-up power and it influences connectivity.”
He said customers should report issues to the Vodacom call centre on 082-135 to ensure that calls are logged and attended to quickly and efficiently.