It’s been over two years since MTN announced AirFibre, a new wireless internet technology that the company hoped would allow it to reach more people in underserved areas. And by all accounts, it has seen impressive take-up.
As of May 2022, Supersonic, MTN‘s internet arm, claimed AirFibre had been deployed to more than 3.4 million locations across South Africa. We’ve requested updated figures from them and will update when/if they arrive. Still, 3.4 million a year ago is pretty impressive.
Why is this awesome?
Getting the internet to more people is always good, as it unlocks all kinds of potential for them to do something useful with it. The Internet is a business enabler, and many studies and reports link Internet access to improved economic growth prospects.
But what makes this awesome is that this is uncapped fibre-like internet connectivity, delivered over the air without any need to dig trenches. In fact, that’s the whole point of AirFibre – to reach areas that currently don’t have fibre in the ground with connectivity that isn’t limited.
Other types of connections are available in many areas covered by AirFibre, like LTE and 5G, but they are not uncapped. AirFibre is uncapped, unshaped, and unthrottled internet, which really blows the lid off of the possibilities of what people can do with it.
Why is this important?
It’s important because getting internet connectivity to more people means equitable access to more opportunities for more people. It involves more people in the economy, gives them access to banking facilities, new avenues to sell whatever they make, and more. In short, it’s not just cool, it’s useful. In the digital age, access to information is crucial for any society to evolve and grow, so the more people have internet access, the better.
Where is AirFibre available?
Initially deployed in Soweto, Mamelodi, Fairlands, and Honeydew, as of September 2023, AirFibre coverage now includes Cape Town, greater Johannesburg and Pretoria, Gqeberha, Polokwane, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, and George. That’s a lot of new people who can now get decent internet without having to rely on 5G/LTE connections that come with limited data packages.
Most importantly… why is this cool?
Allow us to geek out for a second here. AirFibre is based on a patented technology created by a US company called Tarana Wireless, and it uses unlicensed spectrum and beamforming technology to beam data really fast over multi-kilometre distances. And because it’s beamforming, it doesn’t require line of sight – it can find the best signal and switch to it automatically. All of this is done using unlicensed spectrum, so it’s cheaper than other types of internet. That’s just cool, man.
MTN has incorporated this technology into parts of its cell tower network, which has allowed the company to rapidly expand AirFibre’s reach. The end result of all of this awesome geekery is that MTN can now offer internet access that performs like fibre, and which is unlimited like fibre, to areas that previously could not access such a service over the air! If that doesn’t amaze or impress you, you should check if you have a pulse. This is, quite objectively, brilliant.
Why does Stuff Business care?
Because we love our readers and want to tell any of you who might want to start a business or get access to the internet but who are prevented from doing so by a lack of fibre in your area and you live anywhere near the areas listed above, that you should investigate AirFibre.
This isn’t a sponsored post; it’s more of a public service announcement. To check if your area is covered by AirFibre, visit Supersonic’s website and enter your address.