MTN completes Africa’s first 5.5G test in South Africa

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.

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.

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Rami Farah, MTN South Africa’s chief technology officer, said, “The successful validation of 5.5G technology by MTN SA and Huawei is not just a technical breakthrough but also a testament to MTN’s ongoing pursuit of excellence. We look forward to more innovative solutions to continuously build the best network and deliver an enhanced experience for South African residents.”

Li Chen, Vice President of Huawei’s Sub-Saharan Region, noted that the new technology will “bridge the digital divide and accelerate the development of the digital economy and the advent of the mobile AI era on the African continent.”

MTN noted that it achieved a speed experience of 8.6 Gbps to a user. According to GSMA, the global telecoms body, the number of 5G connections globally surpassed 1.5 billion at the end of 2023. However, 5G technology is not expected to become the dominant network in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 4G networks remaining dominant in the region.