Video and mobile apps are set to take the world by storm, and with mobile data traffic slated to grow exponentially in the next five years, MTN South Africa, pioneers of LTE (News - Alert) deployment in the region, is determined to be the first to improve indoor network performance and coverage.
It plans to trial the new Ericsson Radio Dot System initially in public venues and enterprise buildings across South Africa, and later extend its use across MTN (News - Alert) operations.
Introduced in the African market in November of 2013, the Radio Dot system, which integrates easily with mobile operators’ network, consists of a small, cellular radio with a revolutionary antenna element or ‘dot’ that delivers high performance voice and data coverage and capacity to indoor mobile broadband users.
"The Radio Dot System is a game changer, designed to empower mobile and converged operators to seamlessly deliver integrated cloud and mobile broadband services to their customers," noted Fredrik Jejdling, head, sub-Saharan Africa at Ericsson (News - Alert).
Mobile operators have always been challenged when it comes to developing solutions for an in-building environment. Indoor solutions do exist, but as they primarily cater to voice, they aren’t very useful in meeting the growing capacity demand for video and apps. Also high costs and limited scalability have always been deterrents.
Because of its compact size and scalability, the Radio Dot System caters to both business and consumer users and has clear operational benefits for mobile operators, CIOs, IT managers and building owners that have businesses in various locations.
With the Ericsson Radio Dot System, deployments and upgrades are simple. More importantly, the user experience is consistent wherever customers go, for the indoor network evolves in conjunction with the outdoor network.
“Ericsson has enabled MTN to meet the needs of our customers by providing a high quality and consistent experience everywhere, while also extending MTN's brand promise to the enterprise segment which is one of our fastest growing segments,” observed Jyoti Desai, group chief technology and Information officer for MTN.
Although the new, innovative solution will improve coverage and capacity for existing voice services, it is also expected to play an important role in enhancing support to upcoming voice communication services, such as High-Definition, or HD voice and Voice over LTE (VoLTE).
Ericsson, which will be showcasing its products at MWC in Hall 2, Stand 2S60, is well on the way to achieving what it calls - a sustainable ‘networked society.’
Edited by Cassandra Tucker