Huawei's 5G Equipment Delivers Mighty Speeds for MTN in Johannesburg
[Johannesburg, South Africa, July 2, 2020] MTN, this week, successfully launched its superfast 5G next-generation mobile network across major cities in South Africa, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Port Elizabeth.
During a YouTube livestream media launch, speed tests were performed at various locations in Johannesburg, demonstrating download speeds in excess of 600Mbps with latencies averaging 15ms.
Tests performed by media reported download speeds peaking in excess of 700 Mbps and upload speeds peaking at 100 Mbps.
MTN's 5G deployment is completed leveraging on multiple bands: 2.1 GHz using Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), 3.5 GHz, and 28 GHz. 3.5 GHz, known as C-Band, is the global mainstream spectrum for 5G deployment, and Massive MIMO is the mainstream product form.
MTN's 5G deployment in Johannesburg uses Huawei's industry-leading Massive MIMO. This technology guarantees user experience for services that require high bandwidth such as 4K video, multi-angle video, and AR/VR services, and provide broadband services for homes and SMEs.
MTN uses dynamic spectrum sharing between 4G and 5G in the 2.1 GHz band, which provides better coverage due to its lower frequency spectrum characteristics, to a wider 5G coverage.
Huawei's DSS technology enables operators to quickly provide 5G services by upgrading existing 4G base stations to 5G without changing antennas and radio units.
"MTN is the first in Africa to deploy the DSS technology in a 5G live network. DSS can dynamically adjust the spectrum in milliseconds based on 4G and 5G service requirements, maximizing spectral efficiency”, says Mr. Fan Wen, CEO of Huawei Technologies South Africa.
The millimeter-wave (mmWave) band has abundant spectrum resources and can provide a huge capacity for services in hotspots and home broadband. MTN uses 100 MHz mmWave spectrum to ensure broadband connections for homes and SMEs, enabling them to enjoy high speed internet services and enter the digital age without requiring a fiber connection.
"This greatly supports people remotely during the period of social distancing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, while boosting South Africa's transition to a digital economy. We congratulate MTN on the successful upgrade of its network that enables the transition to 5G,” said Mr. Fan.
Giovanni Chiarelli, CTIO of MTN South Africa, said: "5G is also expected to contribute significantly to the country's economy and will play a role in the realization of South Africa's digital transformation goals. An excellent 5G network will enable us to provide more exciting services and to offer premium service experience to our customers."
