Mobile operator MTN says it is exploring ways of rolling out its network coverage to marginalised parts of South Africa to ensure every part of the country has access to voice and broadband services.

MTN South Africa Chief Technical Officer, Kanagaratnam Lambotharan, said his mobile network company would soon rollout coverage in areas that have no communication.

South Africa has a mobile penetration rate of over 100%, according to telecoms researcher BuddeComm.

However, areas in South Africa such as Limpopo, the northern part of Kwazulu Natal, the Northern Cape and some parts of the North West have poor network coverage as compared to densely populated regions such as Gauteng.

"Our current plans are to cover as much of the uncovered population as possible - with basic voice services as a start and then moving towards broadband as well.

"The current plans are to get our broadband coverage to the 85% population coverage level by end 2013.

"The eventual goal is to help the Department of Communication reach its 2020 vision of broadband coverage to all in the country,” Lambotharan said.

He said the company aimed to cover the marginalised parts in the next ‘few years’.

He said MTN, the largest Pan-African mobile network provider, was also rolling out capacity sites in areas where there was high demand.

“MTN will be rolling out 2G and 3G in these areas using UMTS 900 as the vehicle,” said Lambotharan.