2020 is proving that Africa is no stranger to 5G and all the exciting benefits that come with it – in fact, more and more countries are beginning their network upgrade journey. Just this week alone, three major African markets have announced plans to adopt 5G within the coming months – these countries are South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.
Here’s a closer look at three African 5G network launches:
1. South Africa
Liquid Telecoms has plans to launch a wholesale 5G network in early 2020 – according to a statement published by the South African network provider – making it the first network of its kind in the country.
“Liquid Telecom is to launch the first 5G wholesale roaming service in South Africa,’ said the company. “Available from early 2020 in all major South African cities, this latest fifth-generation of mobile Internet connectivity will enable wholesale operators to create innovative, ultra-fast, and scalable digital services for their customers.”
2. Kenya
“About a week ago, Safaricom was spotted testing 5G in Kenya,” reports TechWeez. And this week it would seem that 5G is very much on the cards for the Kenyan network provider. Reports suggest that 5G could be rolled out anytime now in selected parts of the country – and that the Communications Authority (CA) is on board.
“Yes, the CA is aware of Safaricom’s plans,” says a CA spokesperson. “The spectrum envisaged for the first round of 5G rollout is already with the operators who are expected to reform their formerly assigned WIMAX frequencies in the 2.5 and 3.5Ghz bands.”
3. Uganda
An exciting collaboration between MTN Uganda and ZTE saw the launch of the countries first 5G network on Tuesday, 21 January 2020. The companies showcased the high-speed 5G network under the 60 MHz spectrum bandwidth with an actual rate of more than 1.494 Gbps, which can support a variety of applications, such as Gigabit without Fiber Connectivity, Cloud XR, ultra-HD live broadcast, automatic driving and remote surgery.
“ZTE is very keen on sharing new technologies with MTN,” says Bill Yi, Vice President of ZTE. “We have been constantly enhancing our 5G capabilities and have become a core supplier of end-to-end solutions in the global ICT industry.”
Edited by Jenna Delport
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