Airtel in partnership with Ericsson, on Wednesday, launched the 4G/LTE services in Seychelles. This is Airtel's first commercial LTE network in Africa. Airtel and Ericsson, will deliver a new, nationwide LTE (Long Term Evolution) 800 MHz network and to meet growing customer demand for mobile broadband services while delivering superior network performance.
 
The network is expected to cover 10,000 LTE subscribers in the first phase and will greatly enhance connectivity giving Airtel's customers an improved smartphone experience, with faster web browsing, downloads and improved quality of service.
 
"We are committed to enriching the lives of our subscribers, this means putting the customer experiencing at the heart of everything we do. LTE transforms the mobile-broadband user experience, providing superior data speeds needed for services such as internet TV, mobile video-blogging, online video games and the mobile office-environment. As a leading telecom service provider, this is a service we are very proud to offer our customers and Ericsson is our partner in delivering this," said Amadou Dina, Country Manager, Airtel Seychelles.
 
The agreement includes equipment, software and support services, as well as incorporating multi-standard radio base station equipment from the Ericsson RBS 6000 family, LTE RAN software and upgrading existing 2G and 3G access network software.
 
"This further demonstrates our commitment to our long term strategic business relationship with Airtel. The deployment of the next generation mobile network across the Seychelles will enable subscribers enjoy an enhanced mobile experience and reliable services, and will facilitate new exciting opportunities for business, society and people in the country," said Fredrik Jejdling, Head of Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa.
 
Today, 50 percent of the world's LTE smartphone traffic is served by Ericsson networks, which is more than double the traffic of our closest competitor. More than 190 LTE RAN and Evolved Packet Core networks have been delivered worldwide, of which more than 140 have gone live commercially.