Telecommunications group Vodacom on Monday said it would offer its long-term evolution (LTE) services to all its customers, including prepaid users.
Prior to this, only contract customers had access to the latest-generation, superfast network.
“All customers who have a Vodacom-supported LTE-capable device will be automatically provisioned for the LTE service within 24 hours of the device being registered on the network,” Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said.
The device would automatically select the next best connection option in regions not yet covered by the LTE network.
Vodacom, which became the first operator to commercially launch LTE services in South Africa, in October, said increased coverage and a wider range of LTE-enabled devices in South Africa had enabled the group to make the network available to its prepaid and top-up customers.
The telecommunications group had increased the number of LTE-enabled base stations from 70 at its launch last year, to almost 600 live LTE sites spanning Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town to date. This was expected to reach 1 000 by year-end.
“Vodacom is investing more than R6-billion a year in South Africa, adding extensively to the network of 3G base stations, as well as building LTE coverage,” Joosub said, pointing out that the number of 3G base stations was growing at about 25% a year.