7 September 2011, Newbury, UK and Johannesburg, South Africa – MTN South Africa has enlisted the services of Arieso, a provider of customer-centric network performance solutions for mobile operators, to prepare, monitor and maximise the performance of its 3G network for end-users nationwide.

MTN has deployed ariesoGEO to precisely locate performance issues and traffic hotspots in its mobile networks using location-aware subscriber information. This will equip MTN’s engineering team with improved monitoring capability and design insight that will assist them with further improving voice and data traffic quality. This is facilitated by geographically locating network data to identify hotspots, dropped calls, low data throughputs and coverage “holes” 24/7 as they occur. Using this information, MTN is able to act more quickly to take appropriate measures before they become major issues that affect the quality of service for end-users.

Says Krishna Chetty, MTN SA General Manager, Planning and Optimisation: “In a period when the region is experiencing significant growth, operators need to keep pace with the demand for data services while ensuring high quality of service for their customers. ariesoGEO has given us the means to continuously and accurately direct resources to meet user service demands. ariesoGEO will assist in keeping our network running at peak performance and deliver an optimal mobile end-user experience for our subscribers - wherever they are, whatever they’re doing.”

MTN first began working with Arieso in June 2009, when it used ariesoGEO to identify hotspots in its mobile network during the British Lions rugby tour and the Confederations Cup football tournament. Last year ariesoGEO was used to help with network planning ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. This international event generated large volumes of mobile voice and data traffic across the country, requiring MTN to optimise its network to safeguard end user experience. MTN was able to manage the surge in mobile traffic effectively and efficiently.

South Africa is leading the continent in subscriber uptake as a result of smartphone market penetration and the availability of 3G services. According to World Cellular Information Service, as of March 2011, South Africa had over 3.7 million HSPA subscriptions.

“We’re delighted with the results that ariesoGEO has delivered for MTN in its recent project implementations and their decision to deploy ariesoGEO across South Africa,” said Shirin Dehghan, CEO of Arieso. “Our work with MTN showcases the advantages and benefits that Arieso’s unique, location-based approach to mobile network management delivers to mobile operators - improved network performance, enhanced subscriber experience and ongoing revenue opportunities, in the most accurate and cost-efficient way possible.”