South African network provider MTN has revealed that its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment is ‘progressing smoothly’, with selected residential users expected to be connected to the network in ‘a few weeks’, MyBroadband reports. The operator initially hoped to introduce a commercial 100Mbps FTTH broadband service in the country on 1 June 2014, following successful demonstration of the Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology at the Monaghan Farm estate, located 30km north of Johannesburg, on 12 April.
Robin Maduray, general manager of Transmission Planning and Optimisation at MTN, has disclosed that MTN’s transmission network has grown exponentially since 2009 and comprises approximately 12,000km of lit fibre, with 5,000 active microwave links. Maduray added that, to date, there are approximately 2,300 access sites connected to the fibre-optic network. He commented: ‘MTN’s FTTH deployment is progressing smoothly and some residents will enjoy the benefits of high speed broadband connectivity in a few weeks … Furthermore, MTN has built strategic microwave routes in rural areas to complement the fibre rollout, and is similarly investigating partnerships with other interested parties.’