MTC completes 41 tower sites

MARIA SHAANIKATHE MTC 081Every1 project has erected 41 towers out of 111 first phase towers since the project was launched in mid-2017.

This was announced by MTC’s human capital and corporate affairs chief Tim Ekandjo at a media conference on Wednesday.

He said the 41 sites went live on 6 December last year, while civil works have been completed on 64 other sites.

Ekandjo said that the first phase was projected to be completed by the end of March this year.

Phase one of the project covers all 14 regions, with Kunene having the most sites, with 12, followed by Omusati and Ohangwena, with 11 and 10 sites respectively. Khomas has the least sites, with only five.

Ekandjo said MTC has expanded 3G to rural areas, which has increased broadband internet access in those areas, adding that constant power failures in remote areas has been the biggest challenge, forcing MTC to use generators at some sites.

“With every site in the rural area where there is no power, it’s MTC’s responsibility to bring a power line to that site, which is very costly,” he said.

“Although MTC continues to provide 3G in rural areas the need still exists for rural areas to get smart phones/devices and start using the network to improve their daily operations, such as reading news, online banking, online education and studying of new farming methods,” Ekandjo said.

He said the first phase of the project had initially gone slow as many contractors had never been involved in such a project, but they expected implementation to go faster as the project continues.

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