South Africa must not lag in 5G: MTN
Zoltan Miklos GM MTN SA Engineering has stressed the need for keeping up with the mobile technology curve in South Africa, particularly relating to a fifth generation (5G) network, in order to properly serve the country’s population.
Speaking at the MyBroadband Underground event in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, on Wednesday (21 February), Miklos said that the company aims to have 5G commercially available ‘hopefully within two years’ if the necessary spectrum becomes available.
Miklos said that South Africa runs the risk of lagging the global market, a position, he said, would be unfamiliar for the country. Miklos said that the industry needs to maintain its momentum in order to take full advantage of what will become a technology of choice.
5G boasts faster data transfer speeds and lower latency than 4G, along with support for more devices and improved reliability.
According to MTN, 5G will allow for the following improvements over 4G:
- 1,000-times the capacity.
- 100-times the speed.
- 100-times the connected devices.
- 10-times lower latency.
- 10-times reliability.
In January MTN conducted the first “5G technology and applications trial in Africa” at its head office in Johannesburg. The trial was conducted in partnership with Ericsson.
Giovanni Chiarelli, CTIO at MTN SA, said 5G offers a new world of potential for South Africa. “With 5G, remote healthcare through connected robots could offer world-class surgery in the most remote parts of the continent and the world. Self-driving cars could change the face of road safety, along with smart agriculture, smart mining, and smart cities,” he said.
There is no doubt that 5G will offer the consumer higher speeds… but to achieve this, we need the capacity that comes with additional spectrum.”
Read: 5G countdown for South Africa: here’s what you can expect
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