Cell C is rolling out LTE networks with a view to launching commercial services before the end of the year, and on Thursday it unveiled its investment plan for the project.
The South African mobile operator will spend 8 billion rand (€630 million) over the next three years to build out its LTE infrastructure in major metropolitan areas.
Initially it will focus on three provinces: Gauteng, which contains Johannesburg and Pretoria; KwaZulu-Natal, on the Indian Ocean; and the Western Cape, home to Cape Town. Deployments within those provinces will take place in phases and will concentrate on areas of strong demand.
The telco already has trial LTE sites up and running in the three provinces with small numbers of customers testing the service. It aims to offer commercial LTE services "in the latter part of 2015" and will unveil details of specific products and services in due course.
"Our LTE strategy will be focused and strategic, targeting metropolitan areas where people work and live. The primary commuting areas that fall outside the major metros will remain covered by HSPA+," said Cell C chief executive Jose Dos Santos, in a statement.
"Gated communities and high-density residential areas where there is a great demand for high speed data will be one of our priorities," he added.
The firm will also roll out the technology to key areas in other provinces over the next three years, including Limpopo and Mpumalanga, Dos Santos said.
Cell C has signed equipment deals for the rollout of 4,000 LTE sites with Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE.
Alongside the LTE rollout, Cell C is undertaking a number of 3G network projects. It will deploy additional towers to increase the coverage and capacity of its HSPA+ network, and plans to roll out an additional 1,353 3G sites across South Africa over the next few years.
