MTN Launches 5G Trials in South Africa

Giant mobile service provider MTN has launched an indoor trial for the much anticipated 5G network.

The telco successfully trialed the network at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and International Convention Centre. The company said that trial is based on commercial-grade standards and equipment.

The 5G network is reported to have achieved  downlink speeds exceeding 630Mbps and uplink speeds exceeding 130Mbps.

“MTN SA is working with a number of partners to identify more 5G use cases and applications for the digital transformation of their industries,” said Giovanni Chiarelli, CTIO at MTN SA.

“Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and International Convention Centre offers MTN the unique opportunity to test 5G services within a corporate and public indoor environment, while providing us with the opportunity to explore advanced 5G IoT and mission critical use cases.”

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One of the biggest challenge for MTN, according to Chiarelli, is the lack of appropriate 5G spectrum. He however added that MTN will continue to pioneer the technology in the country, so that when the spectrum is eventually made available, they will be in a good position to roll out.

5G is predicted to be the next revolution in mobile telephony. Apart from increasing internet speeds, the technology is expected to drastically increase latency – the delay between the instruction and transfer of data. This will have untold benefits in many industries e.g. remote surgery, autonomous driving and gaming.

Countries like China, South Korea and the US are pioneering this technology.

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