www.WirelessFederation.com/news: For the first time on the African continent, successful trial of 3G network at 900 MHz has been done by MTN Ghana along with Ericsson. The roll-out will begin in Q2 2010 and the responsibility for the access, transport and transmission of 3G UMTS 900 MHz will be over Ericsson.
According to Lars Lindén, President, Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, by leveraging off the existing installed Ericsson 3G Radio Access Network and enabling UMTS in 900 MHz, not only can voice, video and high speed data calls be carried over the network, but operators benefit from having one network delivering all services with the lowest total cost of ownership.
MTN Ghana CTO, Eben Albertyn has given credit to Ericsson’s solid position as an established infrastructural provider in the local and international market and the diverse connectivity services and felt that it will help the company to continue to grow the network coverage locally as well as into many rural and remote sites.
The coverage is increased per Node-B compared with UMTS 2100 with UMTS 900 providing between 44% (in urban areas) and 119% (rural areas).