5G – Africa Tech Digest

28Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Africa, Mobile

MTN Announces 5G Roll Out Date in Ghana

The Ghanaian arm of the largest telecom company in Africa has announced its intentions to launch and make operational 5G services in the West African country by 2023. This comes as MTN has yet to fully cover Ghana with its 4G spectrum, but projects to gain 98% 4G coverage by the end of 2022. Currently, MTN’s 4G coverage has reached 73% of the country. ModernGhana reports that the company revealed that it is modernizing its infrastructure and working with regulators towards 5G and that it will seek to have 5G mobile connectivity operating in Ghana by 2023. According to the CEO of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, who made the announcement, MTN is taking steps towards 5G in order to be in a better position to take advantage of the digital space. “Almost every 10 years, there is a new t...

Safaricom Announces Launch Date for Commercial 5G Network

23Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Mobile, Telecommunications

Safaricom Announces Launch Date for Commercial 5G Network

Safaricom has announced that it will increase its 5G sites by 200 by the end of 2021, and launch a commercialised version of its 5G services in 2022. Kenya’s leading telco launched 5G technology for the first time in the country in March, starting with 15 sites. Now the telco says it wants to take the supremely high-speed internet to additional towns. Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO said Wednesday that the company would use up to 200 sites for testing the upgraded network as it seeks to capitalise on the country’s nascent Internet use which is slowly growing. Safaricom’s 5G service is also hoped to be a central key of its attempts to further expand its data business in order to counter the slow growth in voice calls revenue. Continue reading Image: TechWeez

ICASA Cancels Spectrum Auction in Attempt to Avoid Lengthy Court Battle

7Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Africa, Telecommunications

ICASA Cancels Spectrum Auction in Attempt to Avoid Lengthy Court Battle

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the country’s communications regulator, has announced that it will not be publishing invitations to apply (ITA) to participate in the long-awaited auction of high-demand spectrum in South Africa. ICASA says that the move was made to avoid a lengthy court battle against several litigators that had issues with how ICASA was handling the auction. The regulator is likewise withdrawing an ITA for the licensing of the planned wholesale open-access network (WOAN), pending court approval. “ICASA has now decided to consent to an order setting aside its decision to publish the invitations to apply (ITAs) in order to avoid a long, drawn-out litigation, the effect of which would only be to delay further the licensing of high-deman...

5 Reasons Why 5G Makes a Real Difference

5Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Telecommunications

5 Reasons Why 5G Makes a Real Difference

Over the last 36 months, 5G has rapidly gained mindshare in society as a vital technology. But not all stakeholders in industries adjacent to the telecom industry understand what makes 5G different from its predecessors. In this post, we describe a set of strategic choices made for previous mobile generations of which we made a single choice. 5G makes it possible to embrace both options, thereby unlocking larger opportunities earlier in the deployment cycle. Here are 5 Reasons Why 5G Makes a Real Difference: 5G is for Both Consumer and Business Users The introduction of 4G was consumer-led, with infrastructure and device technology development centred around smartphones for consumers. Businesses adopted consumer technology through a more visible, bring-your-own-device (BYOD)...

Vodacom SA Launches 5G in Northern Cape with ICASA’s Temporary Spectrum

3Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Mobile, Southern Africa, Telecommunications

Vodacom SA Launches 5G in Northern Cape with ICASA’s Temporary Spectrum

Vodacom Central Region has become the first network provider to launch a 5G mobile network in Kimberly, Northern Cape province of South Africa. The new 5G network supports both mobile and fixed wireless access services. Customers of the carrier with 5G enabled devices, and within a 5G coverage area, are now able to access the new 5G network in Northern Cape province. In May 2020, Vodacom switched on South Africa’s first live 5G mobile network in three cities – Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. This network supports both mobile and fixed wireless services and is currently available in Free State, Gauteng, Western Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal provinces. Continue reading

MTN Ghana Expects to Launch 5G in the Country Next Year

28Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Ghana, Telecommunications

MTN Ghana Expects to Launch 5G in the Country Next Year

Selorm Adavehoh, CEO of MTN Ghana, has expressed his expectations that the operator will be able to launch 5G services in the country as early as next year. This comes from recent comments that Adavehoh made at the MTN@25 Business Executive Breakfast held at the Pan-African telecommunications company’s headquarters in Ghana, reported by Techgh2. “Innovation has been a key pillar of our growth,” Adavehoh said, quoted by Developing Telecoms. “We are always trying to make sure we can be the first to launch the next technology, but not only to be the first but to actually bring that technology to the market and create value out of that technology. So 2G, 3G, 4G, and now 5G hopefully next year.” MTN Redoubles Infratructure Plans In order to achieve this goal, Adavehoh s...