South Africa is now ready for a bigger move – a faster pace in our telecommunication networks. It’s been a while since we’ve been waiting for an upgrade from the old 4G. In a year or so, I expect more carriers to be rolling out to a fixed 5G soon. 5G has already been used in selected cities in South Africa and offered by different providers.
It’s now for South Africa’s most used mobile network to join the 5G family. According to the MyBroadband report, Vodacom has just signed a 5G roaming and managed services agreement with the leading independent data, voice, and IP provider in South Africa, Liquid Telecom.
It is expected for Vodacom to start offering 5G services soon this year. According to the same report, 5G should be available in all major South African cities this year. Strive Masiyiwa, who is the chairman of Liquid Telecom, confirmed the “network will enable wholesale operators to create innovative, ultra-fast, and scalable digital services for their customers”, he also added that mobile operators and ISPs will gain access to their 5G services.
- Vodacom will manage the network on Liquid Telecom’s behalf.
- Vodacom will roam on Liquid Telecom’s Network
- Access will be granted to mobile operators to render 5G services
- The official launch is this year
Vodacom also confirmed that the agreement will allow them “to offer customers a leading connectivity experience at a time when most 5G spectrum is yet to be assigned,”
Vodacom has also signed an agreement with RAIN which is similar to the current one – has extended its releasing agreement and Vodacom said that “This is an important agreement in an environment where spectrum remains a key capacity constraint for all networks,”
About 5G
5G is faster than 4G. The human reaction is about 300ms; whereas 4G’s reaction time is about 200 ms. 5G’s latency is 1ms. You will be about to communicate and play games in real-time, and not a second late. This next-generation mobile broadband is designed for a faster speed, and yes – 4G will soon be a thing of the past. 5G operates on three spectrum brands, and the highest performance for 5G is delivered on a High-band spectrum.
(Read about LTE)
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