By Telecom Lead Team: Mobile service
provider Bharti Airtel has launched its 3.75G platform in Zambia, enabling
customers to experience high speed mobile broadband access and make video calls
and watch television live.
“3.75G technology will give our customers the opportunity to interact with
data in a different way. This is why Airtel doesn’t see 3.75G as a product but
a platform that enables the community to expand its social and commercial
horizons, alongside the rest of the world,” said Fayaz King, managing
director, Airtel, Zambia.
The technology used to usher in 3.75G was the fastest available and will be
beneficial for a variety of users, which include large enterprises, small or
medium businesses and the youth.
3.75G offers speeds up to 21 megabytes per
second (mbps) and is similar to those being rolled out in Europe and the US.
There are currently about 400 million mobile subscribers in Africa, according
to McKinsey & Co.
Telecommunications is one of the
continent’s fastest growing industries with a rapidly expanding cellular phone
market that now includes internet access, mobile banking and mobile commerce.
Airtel will be rolling out its data network across all its markets in Africa
with the objective of building the largest 3G network across the continent.
There are currently 280 Airtel 3.75G sites across Zambia – covering all
provincial districts. The company aims to roll out up to 400 by the end of this
year.
The 3.75G platform will allow customers to combine the enormous potential of
the internet with the convenience of cellular phones and other devices. It will
liberate the potential of our youth through enabling fast access to the
Internet for learning, sharing, social networking, creating and accessing
content.
Telecom equipment major Nokia Siemens Networks recently announced that it implemented
automated device management solution for Airtel Africa, in one of the world’s
largest device management deals.
