MTN today announced the expansion of its Metro Ethernet footprint through the development of strategic last mile relationships, in a bid to address the ongoing need metropolitan areas have for reliable high speed connectivity.

 

Justin Colyn, the general manager of Fixed Mobile Convergence at MTN Business, explained that last mile fibre access was still proving to be a barrier for many businesses, particularly smaller ones, which makes up a large portion of the South African business landscape. In an attempt to address this, Colyn explained that the company has developed strategic partnerships with various fibre providers, to be able to provide customers with Metro Ethernet solutions.

 

Colyn explained that the MTN Metro Ethernet product provides customers with a high speed, high availability and low latency broadband Ethernet service, allowing users to choose bandwidth speeds from 2 MBPS to 1 GBPS in specific intervals.

 

The Metro Ethernet service is based on a fibre network that uses Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology to supply point-to-point, point-to-multi-point or virtual LAN services between customer branches within the Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban metropolitan areas.

 

 

This enables businesses to take advantage of cloud solutions such as Direct Internet, Hosting, Software as a Service and Voice. Additionally, business users will have access to a point-to-point Metro Ethernet service, which MTN asserted is an ideal service for businesses who want to connect to a single or to multiple branches.

 

“The product offering empowers the customer with control, choice and flexibility, not to mention higher bandwidth speeds that every customer today is looking for,” Colyn asserted.  

 

He added that the new offering could also assist businesses in “building a viable business strategy that capitalises on existing infrastructures”, while lowering total cost of network ownership. Additionally, the solution could replace redundant access technologies and act as a migration technology, where businesses could enjoy the connectivity required to achieve next generation services.

 

“As technology continues to evolve and subsequently impact business environments, information and communication technology (ICT) needs change. MTN Business recognises this and is therefore focused on further developing our fibre infrastructure, as we aim to assist in closing the current gap that exists regarding last mile access, with partners who are flexible and scalable,” he concluded.

 

In recent news, MTN launched its SME Plus offering, aimed at addressing the needs of small businesses in South Africa.