Africa’s 5G rollout gains speed

 

 

 

By Bonface Orucho, via bird story agency

 

Months after Egypt awarded its first 5G license to Telecom Egypt in a 15-year deal, the operator has partnered with Nokia to accelerate the rollout and deployment of 5G technology across the country.

A statement from Telecom Egypt on July 15 described the partnership as one that would “revolutionize the country’s telecom landscape by introducing the transformative power of 5G to cities such as Alexandria, Giza, Luxor and Aswan.”

“Both our consumer and enterprise customers can look forward to enhanced mobile broadband and exciting new applications that leverage the speed and low latency of 5G technology,” Mohamed Al Fowey, Telecom Egypt’s chief technology officer explained in the statement.

Expected to be operational before year-end, this will be the first deployment of 5G technology in a market experts view as having high potential.

A 2023 GSMA Intelligence report forecast that Egypt would account for 33% of all 5G connections in Africa by 2030, behind, Morocco, Algeria and South Africa.

While Africa currently comprises only about 1% of global 5G connections, there has been notable growth beyond frontrunners like South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

GSMA’s 2023 5G market status update showed that as of September 2023, 27 operators in 16 African markets had launched commercial 5G services.

The market is expanding rapidly, attracting global players like Nokia and Huawei. These international giants, along with homegrown telecom companies, are driving increased adoption of telecom services across African markets.

In South Africa, MTN last month unveiled a partnership with Huawei seeking to develop 5.5G technology in the country.

A joint statement by the duo highlighted that “the two sides will jointly promote the large-scale application of key capabilities of Net5.5G, such as 400GE, SRv6, slicing, and Network Digital Map, to continuously improve MTN’s service experience and network availability in the Consumer and B2B fields, and improve its O&M efficiency.”

South African internet service provider Vox recently launched a 5G while data-only network provider Rain was the first to offer 5G in South Africa, providing the service in a number of urban areas in the country from February 2019.

Similar progress is being witnessed in Kenya, where the 5G market is witnessing rapid growth fueled by two leading telecommunications companies; Safaricom and Airtel.

According to Safaricom’s annual report for the year ended March 31, 2024, the company has established 803 5G sites across 43 of Kenya’s 47 counties, up from 205 sites in March 2023. In comparison, Airtel Kenya operates 690 5G sites covering 39 counties.

Even in Somalia, the tide is changing fast. Hormuud Telecom launched the country’s first 5G installation, providing coverage to up to 81% of major cities, including Mogadishu, Kismayo, Galkayo, Baidoa, Dhusamareeb, Beledweyne, Afgoye, Merca, and Dhobley.

Other operators such as Somtel have also debuted 5G network operations in the country (Somalia), serving up to 4 million of its subscribers.

Recent 5G rollouts have also occurred in Ghana, with industry leaders like Radisys, Tech Mahindra, and Nokia partnering with the Ghanaian government and local entities to accelerate 5G adoption across the country.

Projections show momentum will continue to grow into the future with the the Ericsson Mobility Report released in June 2024 showing 5G will hold the second-largest share of subscriptions in the African region, reaching 28% by 2029.

According to GSMA, in the period to 2030, 5G is expected to contribute around US$26 billion to Africa’s economy. Retail, manufacturing and agriculture are among the sectors that will see the most impact.

bird story agency

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