Vodacom Announces South Africa’s First Successful 5G Voice Call

Vodacom announces South Africa’s first successful 5G voice call, a big step forward for mobile phones in the country. This new achievement means that Vodacom has made the first-ever voice call that runs fully on a 5G network, using something called Voice over New Radio, or VoNR. The call was done on a test network, showing that the company is ready to bring better, faster phone calls to more people very soon, though they haven’t said exactly when yet.

Beverly Ngwenya, Vodacom South Africa’s Technology Director, said this shows how the company is always working to improve technology. She explained that Vodacom wants to give people quick, strong, and secure connections, and this new 5G voice call is a clear example of that promise.

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Normally, when someone makes a call on a 5G phone, the call switches back to 4G or LTE to happen. But with Vodacom South Africa’s first successful 5G voice call using VoNR, that’s changing. Now, calls can happen directly on 5G, which means the call starts faster, sounds better, and you hear less background noise. Simply put, calls will be much clearer and smoother.

This VoNR technology builds on what came before with Voice over LTE, or VoLTE, which started more than ten years ago in South Africa. VoLTE was already better than older 3G calls by making them faster and clearer. With VoNR, Vodacom takes that a big step further. The calls support ultra-high-definition sound and even help save phone battery life—something many people will notice.

Why is this important? Well, Vodacom announces South Africa’s first 5G voice call because it uses the full power of 5G networks. This means the company can handle more calls at the same time without slowing down. This helps avoid busy network times and means fewer dropped calls. For people making calls, this is great news with faster connections, clearer voices, and even better battery life on 5G phones.

Ngwenya also said that this comes at a perfect time, with more people using artificial intelligence and digital apps every day. She described it as a proud moment for Vodacom, showing how strong their network is and the hard work their teams are doing to shape the future of phone calls.

Many new smartphones from big brands like Apple and Samsung already support VoNR, so when Vodacom rolls this out, lots of people will be able to enjoy these benefits right away.

On the technical side, Vodacom’s VoNR test was a big challenge. It used a special system called a “single packet core” that combines voice and internet data on one network. This needs smart cloud technology and upgrades. Passing this test means Vodacom is ready to give customers real 5G calls without interruptions.

Vodacom has been working on 5G for several years now. They started their first live 5G network in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town back in 2020. Since then, they have grown their 5G coverage, with help from South Africa’s communication regulator, ICASA. Vodacom is also strong across Africa, with networks in countries like Egypt, Tanzania, and Mozambique.

Even though Vodacom did not say exactly when everyone can start using VoNR, the company is hopeful it will happen soon. The technology needs more testing on the live network before it’s ready for all customers. But Vodacom is no stranger to fast innovation, they were the first in South Africa to bring VoLTE in 2015 and quickly started 5G in 2020.

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Vodacom announcing South Africa’s first successful 5G voice call is a big deal for the whole region. As 5G grows in Africa, other companies like MTN and Telkom might work faster to offer VoNR too. This new way of calling could change how people expect their phone calls to sound, pushing all mobile companies to improve.

Vodacom announces South Africa’s first 5G voice call and this is a big step toward the future where phone calls are clearer, faster, and smarter than ever before. This technology will help everyone stay connected better in today’s busy, digital world.

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