MTN increases voice and data traffic over festive season

MTN has optimised its network capacity and coverage to cater for increased voice and data traffic over the festive season.

MTN expects traffic on its network to peak during the next few days as people take a break from work and get to spend more time on social media platforms, stream and watch content on their devices and reconnect with friends and family.



The festive season network improvements are part of the ongoing network upgrade that MTN has embarked on in the last eighteen months, which includes improving network quality and coverage along the freeways, national roads and high density areas across the country in order to reduce dropped calls and boost indoor coverage and speeds.

“We are confident of the work we have done to enhance our network quality and coverage in preparation for the holiday season. We have upgraded our system nodes and data centres to cater to increased voice and data traffic. The multi-pronged network optimisation strategy also encompassed a site by site analysis, the enhancements of software features equipped with an early warning system functionality that allows MTN to detect glitches before they manifest themselves, and improved network capacity and skills,” said Giovanni Chiarelli as the new Chief Technology and Information Officer.

MTN SA doubled LTE throughput speeds in the last eighteen months.

3G Rural coverage was also improved during this period when the U900 spectrum was layered on top of the U2100 to improve coverage.

The network upgrades focused mainly on improving upload and download speeds, and comprised of continuous monthly drive tests to assess network quality and coverage.

“These upgrades are part of our ongoing efforts of ensuring that our customers have a festive and glitch-free holiday season. We are cognisant of the importance of remaining connected during the festive season and beyond, and the investments we are making in our network will augur well for our quest of transforming customer experience and leading the delivery of a bold, new digital world,” concludes Chiarelli.