MTN SA, Huawei Unveils 5G Evolution in South Africa

MTN SA Huawei 5G Evolution: MTN Group has completed the first 5.5G network trial in Africa at its head office in Johannesburg, South Africa, in partnership with Huawei.

This is four years after MTN South Africa debuted 5G on 100 initial sites in 2020. According to reports, MTN South Africa’s 5G coverage has increased to 44 percent of its coverage area since then. As with 4G, which got 4G LTE, a faster version, a few years after its launch, 5.5G is the more advanced version of 5G.

MTN SA Huawei 5G Evolution

The deployment of MTN’s 5.5G 10 Gb experience will greatly promote the development of South Africa’s digital economy by connecting the unconnected and supporting the enhancement of the lives of its people, MTN said in a statement. 

MTN SA Huawei 5G Evolution
MTN SA Huawei 5G Evolution

During the trial, MTN South Africa used Huawei’s SingleRAN ultra-wideband active-antenna units and applied hybrid beam-forming architecture in conjunction with flexible dynamic beam management and Inter-FR carrier aggregation technologies.

5.5G networks are said to be 10 times faster than 5G networks. According to Huawei, 5.5G technology promises 10 gigabytes per second headline connection speeds, ten times the number of IoT connections, and reduces latency by a factor of 10.

When 5G was launched, it was said to have the potential for download speeds between 10 and 20 Gbps, or 100 times faster than 4G.

This new era will empower MTN to unlock new opportunities for business and consumers alike, it said.

“The 10 Gb experience will expand new commercial services for consumers, households, and enterprises, accelerating the development of advanced use cases such as 24K Extended Reality, high-speed Fixed Wireless Access, holographic conferencing, and enhanced 5G private networks, among others,” says MTN South Africa CTO Rami Farah.

Also Read: MTN Nigeria Recovers ₦12.5 billion Lost to Mobile Money Service Glitch

MTN SA Huawei Strategic Partnership

The joint release of 5.5G by MTN South Africa and Huawei further deepens their strategic partnership, said Huawei sub-Saharan Africa Region VP Li Chen.

“The trial also fulfils Huawei’s responsibilities and vision in Africa, namely bringing the most advanced technologies to Africa, bridging the digital divide and accelerating the development of the digital economy, and the advent of the mobile AI era on the African continent,” he said.

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Abdullahi Kafayat
Abdullahi Kafayat

Abdullahi Kafayat is an enthusiastic writer interested in the tech world. She's a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University and has a BSc in Chemistry. You can reach her at Kafayatabdullahi17@gmail.com.

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