Cell C, the country’s third largest mobile phone operator, announced on Monday that Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town now have active ‘LTE-Advanced (LTE-A)’, which promises to deliver true 4G speeds, unlike current LTE networks.
LTE stands for “long term evolution”.
Cell C said LTE Advanced is the next major step in the evolution of its LTE network that will deliver customers much faster data speeds and cater for a fast growing demand in data services and content delivery.
LTE-A not only brings faster services to our customers, but also better coverage and greater stability. Cell C’s LTE-A footprint overlaps its current LTE footprint, meaning Cell C customers that have LTE-A capable devices in LTE areas will experience the speed of LTE-A.
The mobile phone operator said the rollout of LTE-A in KwaZulu-Natal will commence in the coming months and will be completed in the third quarter of this year
Cell C’s LTE-A is available on the following handsets, classified as Category 6 handsets and include the Samsung Note 5 (SM-920C), Samsung S6 EDGE (SM-G928C), Apple iPhone 6S, Apple iPhone 6S Plus, Huawei Mate 8_DS, Samsung S7 Flat (G930F), Samsung S7 Edge (G935F), LG G5 (H850) – all handsets include model numbers for clarity.
“Cell C has become the leading innovator in the South African mobile telecommunications industry. We were the first and only provider to embrace over-the-top services, like Facebook and WhatsApp, by offering free access and true value to customers for services they love. Cell C was the first and currently only operator to offer Wi-Fi Calling giving customers wider coverage and an affordable alternative to international roaming by making any Wi-Fi hotspot a mini Cell C base station,”says Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos.
“Now we are the first operator in the country to bring LTE-A on such a large scale covering three of the largest metros in SA.”
Customers using these devices will not see a different symbol (it will still show 4G or LTE depending on the device) on their handsets, however, they can expect to see data download speeds of up to 100Mbps.
