Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) is shifting from its traditional role as a mobile network operator to a provider of specialised digital solutions for Namibia’s industrial sectors, including mining, oil and gas, and fishing.
General Manager for Sales, Elton Katangolo, said the company’s expansion aims to address operational challenges in these industries through secure connectivity, real-time analytics, and advanced network services.
Speaking at the recently held Mining Expo and Conference, Katangolo said MTC had evolved from a household and handset service provider into a partner for large-scale industrial operations, also offering digital services to government through smart city initiatives.
“We needed to transcend into a sector to be able to provide telecommunication not only to your household or to your businesses but we also needed to utilise our network that we are having into the industries, being into fishing, mining, oil and gas and so forth,” he said.
Katangolo said MTC’s 98% population coverage, stretching from the Kunene River to towns along the Orange River, has positioned the company to deliver private LTE networks, dedicated internet access, secure MPLS connections, cloud-based PABX systems, and VSAT for remote locations.
“We are driving some agenda for autonomous operations, real time analysis, integrating between fixed and mobile services or operations, as well as remote work support,” he said.
The company’s private LTE services he said, allow machine-to-machine communication in mining operations, linking haulage and plant equipment with control rooms for real-time production and planning data.
MTC’s offerings Katangolo said ,also include smart city solutions, surveillance systems, IoT services, and industry 4.0-enabled machinery for sectors requiring secure, dedicated communication systems.
Katangolo said the company’s engagement with the mining sector was shaped by its specific operational needs.
“There are communication blind spots in some of the operations. There are delayed data analytics that the mining community might require. There’s also safety issues and there’s also a people’s issue,” he said.
He noted that partnerships with mines have already resulted in private network installations, enabling operational monitoring and internal communications in environments where personal phones are prohibited for safety reasons.
“Apart from contacting each other, we are able to then monitor and control the movements of all the mining equipment as well as the operation and ore movement,” Katangolo said. He added that MTC’s secure, industry-focused services were designed to optimise operations and support business growth. “Enabling growth because you are able to plan forehand, then also optimising operation,” he said.
