MTN, Huawei launch SA’s first commercial LampSite Solution

MTN and Huawei have jointly launched the LampSite indoor coverage solution at Lakeside Mall east of Johannesburg.
The indoor solution is the first commercial LampSite network to be deployed in South Africa and will significantly enhance Lakeside Mall’s indoor network coverage and capacity, resulting in an improved customer experience.
Demand for a high-speed, high-volume data experience is growing as more and more subscribers are introduced to the possibilities of using LTE TDD mobile networks with their smartphones. Obstacles to ensuring the best experience are typically found in providing mobile broadband coverage indoors. Huawei’s LampSite solution has quickly and effectively solved this indoor coverage problem at Lakeside Mall providing the best big data experience.
Recent advancements in mobile internet have changed consumers’ shopping habits. Traditional retail places such as shopping malls and commercial streets are positively transforming into comprehensive shopping and entertainment centres. Consumer shopping trends have forced traditional retailers to actively embrace the need to provide consumers with a high-quality shopping experience and the Lampsite indoor solution does exactly that.
The solution will provide ultra-high speeds of 3G and 4G internet experience, to help improve the overall consumer shopping experience. MTN deployed 64 Huawei LampSite small cell base stations throughout the mall, and for the first time the core of 4G technology will enter indoor coverage. During the live network test, peak download speeds in the mall reached highs of up to 72Mbps.
The solution supports high-capacity requirements, and allows multiple consumers to access high-speed internet access. At the launch, Huawei used 6 mobisixle phones to simultaneously display live streaming of 4k high-resolution videos on a monitor with all six devices streaming without buffering.
Despite the solution being localised to fit the South African market, the video clarity and texture were preserved thus reflecting the excellent performance of this innovative solution. The LampSite Solution is easy to manage, stable and supports a variety of devices. It effectively enhances the competitiveness of the mall by allowing multiple users to download and stream simultaneously.
Krishna Chetty, MTN’s GM for radio planning and optimization, comments: “The solution will assist the mall in creating more new market opportunities. And when more partners get involved, it will definitely kick-start the indoor digitalisation era in South Africa. This innovative LampSite indoor coverage solution caters not only to commercial spaces,  but also; stadiums, hospitals, office parks, airports and other venues, thus greatly improving communication for all.”
Edric Chu, director of Huawei MTN South Africa, adds: “In order to create ubiquitous high-quality mobile broadband network, operators need to enhance the user experience and obtain competitive service differentiation. Huawei, as an ICT industry leader is committed to creating a better environment by building innovative indoor networking solutions with its Service Anchor, helping operators transform from voice centric to data centric, and to enter into the digital era. The LampSite solution helps operators to achieve data management services by expanding digital services and  leading indoor digitized industry advancement.”