MTN is upgrading their infrastructure. They want to use new and different equipment which are more sophiscated. They want to reduce the use of dissel and other expensise + including theft in some area. I am a bit frustrated sha but I which they finish it on time and let see what they have to offer. Untill then, they remain the second best to me

COMPAQ: Over the last couple of months, MTN has been in the news informing us of their current network upgrade. However, i'm curious about what they are upgrading to with respect to data! Are they moving up to HSPA+ otherwise known as 3.75g(which Airtel and Etisalat use) or are they moving up to LTE, otherwise known as 4g, (which no network in Nigeria uses yet - forget Glo's claims) which I understand is what MTN SA is upgrading to.

If there is anyone in the house privy to that info, please share as it could determine the nature of my next phone.

It will surprise me if LTE come to Nigeria anytime in the near future. It is a radical infrastructural change from the cell site all the way to the packet core. You will not be able to use any existing UMTS device, except maybe the mask, which must be fitted to support the MIMO antennas.....the cost is huge and the providers in Nigeria must first determine if they can recoup the cost and enough profit from the customers compare to how things are right now.

There are many upgrade parts within HSPA+ that will lead to increased data throughput......HSPA+ can support upto 337Mbit/s with Release 11 of the 3gpp standard at the cell site, but no one is getting this speed in 9ja becos the providers consider it a waste of money and bottom line to incur the expenses needed to make such upgrades even when they ride the same underlying 3g infrastructure.

@Linearity, Then it may surprise you that MTN is already test running LTE in Abuja on a pivot run. This is being done with Huawei as their partner, Airtel is also working on deploying some LTE nodes and are also working with Huawei on same.
so dont be surprised if these netwroks roll out LTE services as soon as the government agencies give them the required frequencies.

Upgrading 2 NITEL...

el wino: @Linearity, Then it may surprise you that MTN is already test running LTE in Abuja on a pivot run. This is being done with Huawei as their partner, Airtel is also working on deploying some LTE nodes and are also working with Huawei on same.
so dont be surprised if these netwroks roll out LTE services as soon as the government agencies give them the required frequencies.

What most of them don't know is MTN will invest close to $1billion in two years on their network in Nigeria alone. That's a lot and I don't expect them not to get it right with such a huge investment

rman:

What most of them don't know is MTN will invest close to $1billion in two years on their network in Nigeria alone. That's a lot and I don't expect them not to get it right with such a huge investment

Hmm but remember Nigeria is a place where all form of normal reasoning and common sense is defied. I won't be surprised if after spending that amount, service becomes worse or just a bit better than the current level of crap

surugede:

I am in the industry. Believe you me, what MTN is doing is equipment Swap and not Network Modernization. They are Swapping Ericsson Equipment for Huawei and ZTE [both Chinese coys]and I can authoritatively tell you that these equipment are are not in any way IP TX equipments. As a matter of fact, after the swap [modernization, so called] is Asaba, Delta state, a Huawei region, the Network KPI got worse than before, so also was it in PH region. The simple truth is that for the interest of some people Ericsson is swapped out for Huawei. Believe you me, money exchanged hands for this to take place. If you expecting the MTN network to get better after now, I am sorry to tell you, you will be disappointed.

Oga, they have different projects going on oh. the one in asaba is a swap project, they haven't started their modernization project there. The modernization project is ongoing in abuja and some other regions. and MTN as a company have a strict standard, sure the KPI isnt the best right now but trust me, it will get better than what it used to be, whether na huawei oh, zte oh, ching chung chu oh, they will step up their game...

rman: MTN is doing a complete overhaul of thier network.

Due to the increased demand for broadband from mobile users, access nodes that support bursty traffic are being deployed. Eg if you are chatting and during same chat u need to send a video, your demand for capacity suddenly increases, which the current network hardly supports.
When the modernization project is over, more sites and cities will be on 3G, almost all states capital will have a fibre metro, and both TDM and IP network will be made available. Also, the network will be LTE ready.

Almost all the network have HSDPA but what makes Etisalat the best is theirs is IP network which delivers flexible capacity as required.

They are doing all this on a live network with millions of subscribers so there will be issues.

It is a task that must be done based on what future mobile telecoms network will be delivering.

Yes, they have issues now but if they get it right, subscribers will sing a different song.

I hope some of my giberish makes sense.

WELL SAID!!!

Red-Light:

number portability will definitely do sum magic.. Almost all networks sells their sims at 100 or little higher.. Buh people like me have being willing to throw my sim inside nearest toilet buh couldnt simply becoz have being using d stupiid stingy bad mtn network since 2005 and i dnt know how to change it.. Trust me if number portability starts 2mao, i will be the first to change.. Have had enough of mtn wahala

Thank you. You sincerely spoke my mind here. I even find it difficult to do my bank transactions, as I so much love doing mobile banking alot.

am planning on chewing my mtn sim soon...... Already gotten a zain nd etisalat lines...
I dunno y NCC hasnt chased dem outta this country

what benefit can an EMPTY HEN give to d society if not bad odour of it uncracked egg

CrazyMan:
Yea I'm really curious about their airplane scam...its obvious that no one has one the ghost plane yet.

Mtn = Maximum Thieves Nationwide

MTN = Maximizing thievery Nationwide

rman:


Are you so sure about this?

If free sims and 100naira sims did not make people leave, what make you think number portability will?

The power to choose is already in their hands, they just made a choice to stay

I disagree with you...if 'number portability' by December is true all it means is that I can sign up a contract with etisalat ditch MTN and continue with the splendid voice and data package that etisalat has to offer. Truth be told MTN has the worst data reliability I've ever seen. What keeps people 'including myself' with that network is just cause of my 0803 line. If number portability becomes possible in Nigeria (as it is abroad) then the Nigerian telecoms industry would be driven solely by the services renders and not how long one is known by a particular number.

Best option is to mobilize boys make we go all their branches all over naija,make we begin burn am down one by one.. Maybe that's when they'll understand that Nigerians are tired of their so-called best network..

Upgrading to exploit and disappoint

Donalð Genes:

Taaaaaaaaaaah taaaaaaah wch android

What do you mean by which android...

All i can see is

Firmware version**2.3.6
Baseband version **I510.06**SCH-I510 blablabla

Kernel version**2.6.35.7-FP5
Dat all i can see

Nurry: What I still don't understand is the fact that MTN has deteriorated and some pple still stick to the network when there are other choices.
MTN jazz u ni? Switch over abeg

switch over to what?answer me my friend,is it to eti nonsense or unreliable glo or fluctuating airtel abeg frre me jo they all the same buh MTN is the best

[quote(What Is Mtn Upgrading To?)][/quote]

EMPTY HEN left the country when they came 11 years ago!

Funny enough a colleague reported that for the last 4 to 5 days, she has suddenly started posted speeds as high as 10mbps to 12mbps. And she said she was getting regular speeds of like 800kbps to 1.5mbps just like a week ago, so maybe the upgrade is working. This is in pH by the way and I recall they advertised in the local radio here like a month ago that the upgrade had now reached our area.

MrMexs007:

I disagree with you...if 'number portability' by December is true all it means is that I can sign up a contract with etisalat ditch MTN and continue with the splendid voice and data package that etisalat has to offer. Truth be told MTN has the worst data reliability I've ever seen. What keeps people 'including myself' with that network is just cause of my 0803 line. If number portability becomes possible in Nigeria (as it is abroad) then the Nigerian telecoms industry would be driven solely by the services renders and not how long one is known by a number.

I am eager for number portability myself. I am also finding it difficult to change to etisalat from Airtel cos I've Been using the number for like since inception and don't want to have to start communicating a new number.

Red-Light:

number portability will definitely do sum magic..

At the FEC meeting, it was still mentioned that number portability will begin December. Let's see then.

[

COMPAQ: Funny enough a colleague reported that for the last 4 to 5 days, she has suddenly started posted speeds as high as 10mbps to 12mbps. And she said she was getting regular speeds of like 800kbps to 1.5mbps just like a week ago, so maybe the upgrade is working. This is in pH by the way and I recall they advertised in the local radio here like a month ago that the upgrade had now reached our area.

its not enough to make such claims give location in ph.

deor03: Basically what MTN is doing is called Network Modernization Project.

This type of project is presently going on in several markets around the world. They are also swapping out in some other regions as well.

They are putting the modern cabinets on site capable of doing IP Transmission and also capable of 2G/3G/4G in a single cabinet.

In addition to above "network modernization solution is designed to help operators fully utilize their site energy, reduce energy consumption of their temperature control systems, optimize their site layout, and fulfill their social responsibilities for energy saving and emission reduction. In addition the solution also aims to reduce site OPEX, prolong equipment life cycle, and enhance operators' competitiveness." [ culled from Huawei ]

I implore you to read more about network modernization projects around the world.

aaaa!!! Abeg o!!! No spoil my mouth 4 me, dis post too hard to read. Rmb keresimasi dey around corna.

Djcn:

its not enough to make such claims give location in ph.

Well, I know she resides somewhere on Okporo road near artillery. However, I am aware she uses the latest ZTE modem, which I think has a max of 21mbps. I just dusted off an old mtn sim to test (I am always looking for the fastest service) and my ookla speed test gives me a download speed of 1.9gbps! And that's using an older glo modem of 3 years ago with a max of 3.6mbps. We should all remember that we are limited by the hardware that we use!! Some peeps are looking for superfast speeds on modems and phones of 3 years ago...it simply won't happen. The other thing i noticed though is that the upload speed was rather poor at 250kbps. Etisalat sometimes does more than 1gbps uploading.

Djcn:

its not enough to make such claims give location in ph.

I'll not only give you location...i'll also give U screenshots.
The speed in the screenie below was gotten using my Android fone (HTC Desire S) as a modem and creating a wi-fi hotspot with it.

My friend that uses a Samsung GS3 as his modem.......regularly gets download speeds of 1.44MB/s

Using that same SIM in an MTN modem only gives me 450kbps max. So the hardware U use is very important.

Location: still around artillery, PH.

COMPAQ:

Well, I know she resides somewhere on Okporo road near artillery. However, I am aware she uses the latest ZTE modem, which I think has a max of 21mbps. I just dusted off an old mtn sim to test (I am always looking for the fastest service) and my ookla speed test gives me a download speed of 1.9gbps! And that's using an older glo modem of 3 years ago with a max of 3.6mbps. We should all remember that we are limited by the hardware that we use!! Some peeps are looking for superfast speeds on modems and phones of 3 years ago...it simply won't happen. The other thing i noticed though is that the upload speed was rather poor at 250kbps. Etisalat sometimes does more than 1gbps uploading.

You are very right.

COMPAQ: Funny enough a colleague reported that for the last 4 to 5 days, she has suddenly started posted speeds as high as 10mbps to 12mbps. And she said she was getting regular speeds of like 800kbps to 1.5mbps just like a week ago, so maybe the upgrade is working. This is in pH by the way and I recall they advertised in the local radio here like a month ago that the upgrade had now reached our area.

Hmmm I stay in Jos and before MTN came to Jos was till 3years after they had lunched in Nigeria. Only them know how long it will take them to accomplish that in the rest of the country.
My problem with MTN is they have all these bonus's that are geared to RIPPING their customers. Take for instance the so called WOW packed. It was not until I loaded N400 last night with *888 as prefix did I realise that the N400 was moved to a 'WOW main account' and the 'bonus' of N400 reflects as WOW Bonus. IMAGINE. And I had up to midnight to start making calls so as to clear a total of N800 or forfeit my N400 and the so called WOW bounus of 400. What can be more criminal than that, why cant they just come out straight and tell us that 'bear in mind that credit loaded with *888 as prefix can not be used for SMS or after the midnight of Sunday'. As for me and my house we are dropping our MTN line till further notice.

Rman I can really like to meet you man... Enjoy ur knowledge. As for the claims about the speeds in ph, I can concur cuz of late downloads wit my BIS via UCWeb have been unusually fast...

Will try their hourly plans on me modem though its a old 1. Will test it wiv speedtest and see what I can achieve

As for mtn upgrades I agree with rman cuz MTN ryt now r swapping out ericsson for ZTE since the operate on IP and most of their equipments ate designed to support IP though am more familiar with Huawei equipments sha... As for the LTE test, its possible soon cuz Airtel has been experimenting...

I'm in the industry so I can confirm some of what has been stated here.

Though I still prefer etisalat tho. Dat network is crazy!!!