Vodacom deploys 5,000th 3G base station; 3,000th DC-HSPA+ site

According to MyBroadband.co.za Vodacom South Africa commissioned its 5,000th 3G base station on 20 February 2012. In addition, the cellco has reached the milestone of 3,000 DC-HSPA+ enabled sites, which it claims provides maximum download speeds of 43Mbps. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Vodacom was the first South African operator to roll out a 3G network, initiating a trial with twelve base stations in mid-2004, before inaugurating a commercial 3G service in December 2004, with 473 base stations. Vodacom has indicated that its enlarged 3G network provides coverage to around 81% of the population.