MTN, Ericsson conduct first African 5G trials

MTN and Ericsson have joined forces in South Africa to showcase the first 5G testing on the African continent, according to a company statement. The announcement follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two companies in recent weeks.

The 5G trial achieved a throughput of more than 20Gbps with less than 5ms latency, which is the highest achieved on a mobile network in Africa. The 5G trial is based on 5G prototype radios and commercially available baseband hardware, and 5G mobility is supported.

“Ericsson is the first to launch a 5G trial with MTN in Africa, supporting our strategy of delivering next-generation mobile broadband, cloud as well as providing support for massive Internet of Things (IoT) deployment,” said Mahomed Essof, country manager for South Africa, Ericsson

The testing took place at Ericsson’s Proof of Concept 5G Lab, in South Africa. MTN and Ericsson will continue to collaborate on identifying 5G use cases and applications for the digital transformation of industries in the near future.

“In collaboration with Ericsson we are continuously pushing the boundaries of how 5G can meet the diverse needs of our customers. 5G gives us the opportunity to rethink how our business can add further value to the lives of our customers,” said Babak Fouladi, CTIO, MTN Group.