Vodacom’s R500m capacity upgrade
VODACOM will spend more than R500 million within two months to add network capacity during the lockdown period and to help cope with any possible load shedding.
This is in response to an expected increase in network traffic after Vodacom implemented price cuts of up to 40% on its 30-day data bundles on April 1.
Vodacom group chief technology officer Andries Delport said: “Vodacom is doing everything possible to ensure that we maintain our network service quality during this unprecedented time, with a notable increase in traffic already under way.
We will continue to increase our network investment spend to manage the extraordinary traffic increases in the short-term.
“We are monitoring all traffic patterns daily and prioritising key network upgrades to add capacity and maintain the quality of services delivered to our customers where required.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to gain temporary access to spectrum to enable additional capacity to be added in the quickest and most cost-effective manner as traffic increases further,” said Delport.
Telecommunications has been classified as an essential service in the Disaster Management Act.
“Vodacom has secured permits from government to enable its field teams to continue performing their critical duties during this time, such as repairs and upgrades to key communications infrastructure.
“Vodacom has also ordered spare parts needed for maintenance in advance,” Delport said.
In March MTN launched a free 20MB Ayoba Data Lifeline that could be accessed via the Ayoba app as part of their response to the Competition Commission’s Data Service Market Inquiry.
MTN also announced their Mobile Money (MoMo) app would allow for free peer-to-peer cash payments under R200.
Meanwhile, Cell C has partnered with micro-jobs platform M4Jam to give South Africans with difficulty earning an income during the national lockdown a chance to make some extra money, through a R2m project.