from AHMED MOOLA in Cairo, Egypt
Egypt Bureau
CAIRO, (CAJ News) – VODACOM has deployed in Egypt what it reports to be the world’s mobile radio equipment, to bolster network resilience.
It is a triple-band unit that combines the 1800 megahertz (MHz), 2100 Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) and 2600 Time division duplex (TDD) frequency bands into one single unit.
This advanced unit from Ericsson is anticipated to enable Vodafone Egypt to reduce the cost of its 4G/5G network rollout in the country, the implementation time, energy consumption and tower load.
This is part of an investment of R4,6 billion (about US$246,6 million) by the South African-headquartered Vodacom on its Egypt operations in its last financial year, to grow and strengthen the network in the North African country.
Vodacom acquired a 55 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt in 2022.
“I am proud of the innovative work done by the team in Vodafone Egypt in driving Vodacom Group’s vision to build networks that are future-proofed, efficient and customer focused,” said Dejan Kastelic, Group Technology Officer for Vodacom Group.
The official added, “Combining three bands across FDD and TDD in a single radio unit is a milestone in simplifying the engineering, deployment, and operation of our network.”
Vodafone Egypt services 48,3 million customers and contributes one quarter of the company’s revenue.
As of January 2024, Egypt’s internet penetration rate was 72,2 percent, with 75,66 million internet users in January 2022.
However, the country’s average internet download speed is amongst the slowest in the world.
Catalin Buliga, Technology Director for Vodafone Egypt, said the company worked relentlessly with technology partners to enhance mobile network leadership and provide world class mobile service quality to customers.
“This new triple band radio unit from Ericsson gives us better cost, faster deployment of 4G/5G services, less energy consumption for our mobile network and less tower load,” Buliga said.
– CAJ News