Shortage on MTN network

Its been more than 4 days that MTN data communication users are experiencing slow, if any, connections particularly with the 3G network.

MTN customers anger was mostly due to the silence or non-satisfying reasons from the operator. Some times statements from MTN officials saying the issue comes from a fiber optic cable cut in Tanzania, other times blaming their 3G network upgrade.

Some subscribers claim the voice communication is also faulty. MTN has to deal with the increasing number of 3G users since the introduction of unlimited data plan for only 21,000frw /month.

RURA, the regulator, might consider taking action against MTN if customers keep experiencing the poor delivery.

MTN CEO had a press conference today, blaming the shortage on several cuts of the EASSy (Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System) cable causing MTN to loose 80% of its international capacity. Before, some outages experienced by some data users were due to the upgrade of 3G network, the CEO assured. He finally promised that a compensation will be provided to all data users after the upgrade.

Kigali's 3G test

Today I am showing you a quick test I did on 3G networks here in Kigali.
  
Note: these tests should not be considered as a full reference of the two operator's networks, rather they expose what to be expected.

The speed tests were performed indoor, outdoor and in a moving vehicle to showcase different scenarios. But performed with the same handset.

These two screen-shots above are from an indoor speed test. 63513, standing for Tigo network (still wondering why folks from Tigo didn't put the name of their network instead of the code numbers), shows faster download speeds (1.491Mbps) compared to R-cell network (0.619Mbps = 619Kbps). These tests are the highest download speeds achieved after 3 tests for each network.




On these two screen-shots from an outdoor spot (Tigo on the left and MTN on the right), MTN showed some kind of stability. Surprisingly I had too much difficulty to achieve 300Kbps on Tigo's 3G.

Finally in a moving vehicle (30 to 60km/h), speeds fell under 300Kbps which is not really a surprise with a moving handset.


Overall, after several tests, MTN 3G network looked relatively constant on its speeds (500-700Kbps) while Tigo could offer peaks of up to 2Mbps.
There has been an improvement inTigo's network from last year,but MTN still has the advantage of a fairly good 3G coverage in Kigali.

The imminent Airtel will, with no doubt, bring a new generation of mobile network. Just as Rwandatel brought 3G network (MTN had to follow right after), and Tigo came with 3.5G (I'll let you guess what MTN did after that).
Airtel might come up with a HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) network branded 3.75G, which is an upgrade on the Uplink (connection from the handset to the tower/antenna) of the HSDPA 3.5G network. Airtel already deployed this network in some countries in Africa where it is operating.

But hey! Why not a 4G right from the start :) . Unofficial news are stating that the operator is deploying a new generation of equipment with LTE (Long Term evolution) compatibility.

Answers on the launching day.

Early signs?

It's been a while that I've been seeing new GSM antennas rising from roof tops of some buildings in Kigali. This got me curious, wondering if the new transceivers were from the awaited Airtel. Obviously, the new operator should be by now 'cooking' its new network and performing some tests before the official launch.

I decided to do some sniffing of the waves around us with my handset, looking for signs of Airtel. I have to say my results were totally unexpected. Here are 2 snapshots from my handset.

63513 stands for Tigo network (don't ask me why people from Tigo didn't put a name to their network), R-CELL for MTN and VodaCom for???? TELECEL-BDI???

Now that got me thinking how Vodacom is being picked up in Kigali! Telecel operates in Burundi. How is it showing up in Kigali? Are they towers being under test by Airtel? Why would they bare these names from operators outside the country? I couldn't find any plausible answer to these questions.