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Load shedding costs MTN millions

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Load shedding has continued to affect mobile connectivity.

MTN’s Executive for Corporate Affairs, Jacqui O’Sullivan, says Africa’s largest mobile network is spending up to R100 million on battery generators for every three days of electricity blackouts.

On Monday, Eskom implemented stage six load shedding which is the highest level since the power utility introduced the rolling blackouts in 2008.

The escalation of loadshedding saw Eskom cut 6 000 megawatts of power from the grid.

Eskom reintroduced stage two loadshedding on Tuesday.

O’Sullivan has advised mobile users to switch off any background apps or components that may use up data in order to maximise connectivity.

“We start moving to the areas where it’s just not giving us enough time to reload our batteries. So we’ve got batteries that have a capacity for six to 12 hours but we do need 12 to 18 hours to reload those batteries.”

“The costs are high but obviously our real concern is keeping people connected.”

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