As Namibia’s leading mobile network operator MTC lays out plans to cover some 75 percent of the country with 4G-enabled connections, Telecom Namibia might soon be displaced from top to second.
The installation of ‘fibre rings’ will start in the capital of Windhoek before the beginning of next year.
Lines currently owned by MTC run through Windhoek to the southern border at Noordoewer, a linking power line between Windhoek and Tsumeb and another one under construction from Tsumeb to Oshakati.
Speaking at the Portugal Telecom (PT) conference on technology and innovation in Lisbon, Portugal last week, MTC’s chief executive Miguel Geraldes said the circular fibre-optic layout that connects to the fibre backbones “that are in turn connected to base stations that links businesses and homes to the network – will give unlimited speed to internet connectivity.”
She added that the rates will become more cost effective with double the connection speed for the same price.
MTC’s possession of a neutral licence, meaning ground on both mobile and landline services, makes it a competition with the country’s fixed-line operator Telecom Namibia. MTC has spent large amounts of between N$100 and N$250 million (approx US$12- to US$ 30 million) to upgrade their infrastructure and WACS this year.
Geraldes confirmed that MTC’s growth strategies are based on PT’s methods, reported The Namibian.
These MTC launches follow the technological advances of technical partner and shareholder PT, also a global leader.
PT has market properties in pay television, broadband, as well as mobile services. The service operator was one of the first European telecommunication companies to offer fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services and boasts with the lowest European rates. They are the process of constructing a 50,000 server strong connectivity hub in Portugal, which will be the world’s sixth largest data centre.
