According to Vodacom, the competitiveness of Siemens, in terms of pricing, availability of expertise and support with future roadmaps, contributed to its decision.
 
Says Romeo Kumalo, MD for Vodacom Tanzania: Offering the latest 3G technology to the Tanzanian population is of strategic significance to Vodacom, and we are confident that Siemens Communications is the right technology partner to roll-out the required infrastructure.
 
Jan Mrosik, CEO of Siemens Communications in SA, says: It is a fact that broadband access is scarce in Africa. As such, this development is of considerable importance, in that it will enable businesses and consumers in Tanzania to join the world in terms of access to the services that are enabled by high-speed access to the Internet.
 
We also have the delivery channels necessary to establish and support these types of networks in Africa. This will be the second 3G network that Siemens will establish in southern Africa, and will be the first truly high-speed mobile broadband connectivity available in Tanzania, Mrosik adds.
 
An 'accelerator' for 3G, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) enables subscribers to benefit from download speeds of up to 1,8MBps even faster than ADSL connectivity, he says.
 
Martin Sanne, MD for Mobile Networks at Siemens Communications, says: This is the first 3G implementation by Vodacom outside SA, and it is aimed at providing the same types of services to business users and consumers - including Internet access and mobile commerce to the East African nation.