MTN pledges to fix network hitches

MTN Rwanda has dispelled fears that the reason for upgrading its network, which has caused network disruptions, was because of competition from its business rival.At a news briefing Tuesday, MTN Rwanda Managing Director, Khaled Mikkawi, said they are still safe because of their subscriber base.“We cannot be compared to Airtel because of our subscription base; maybe that can happen in two years time,” Khaled told reporters at MTN head offices in Nyarutarama, Kigali.MTN subscribers have in the recent past suffered network disruptions due to upgrading of the 3G coverage by over 30 percent.Airtel Telecom Company was last year granted license to operate in Rwanda as the third player after traditional South African MTN which boasts of the largest market share followed by Tigo.Without disclosing how much was invested in upgrading the 3G, Khaled promised to rectify the network disruptions as soon as possible.Airtel that launches in about a month’s time is expected to roll out 4G network, prompting speculations that it has caused panic to would be rivals.Khaled dismissed the speculations, saying their current upgrading is an annual arrangement aimed at improving the quality of services for the customers.The market leader boasts of 2.9 million subscribers and claims that its network coverage extends to over 98 percent of the population. In 2009 alone, MTN invested a whopping US$120 million, reducing the assets in 2010 to about US$60 million; in 2011, it was US$35 million while this year it’s expected to be US$30 million.While Airtel has already invested US$100 million, operation license inclusive, that should give MTN confidence to keep dominating the industry for some time to come.“When you roll out new 3G sites, you have to carry out tests and an optimization exercise and the challenge is keeping clients and subscribers online while carrying out optimization,” Khaled explained.However, apart from the upgrading, network disruptions have also been attributed to East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY), cable multiple cuts between Djibouti and Port Sudan. This has affected telecom operators that depend on EASSY cable in sub-Saharan region.Eighty percent of MTN’s fiber capacity is driven through the EASSY undersea cable while 20 percent is through the TEAMS cable.In response to the disruptions, MTN re-routed all their traffic through TEAMS and have sourced for additional capacity from various service providers, hence doubling current bandwidth.

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MTN pledges to fix network hitches