On the sidelines of day 1 of AfricaCom 2019, MTN South Africa showcased a 5G trial on the C-band along with the Chinese telecom colossus Huawei. The demo presented some 5G use-cases that included a live 5G speed test, with throughputs of up to 1.6Gbit/s, cloud virtual reality gaming, a robotic arm guessing platform, and augmented reality eyeglasses that demonstrated facial recognition.
“MTN is very pleased to launch the 5G C-band trial in South Africa,” said MTN CTO Giovanni Chiarelli. “This trial demonstrates the capability of this new technology while giving customers a glimpse of what the future holds, showcasing the next generation of applications for consumer and enterprise customers. MTN will further cooperate with Huawei to accelerate commercial 5G deployment.”
Dean Yu, Huawei Carrier Business VP for Southern Africa added that, “Huawei will keep supporting MTN through its challenges and requirements, providing the most innovative product and solution for MTN, bringing the ultimate experience to MTN subscribers.”
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint 5G innovation program to assess and work on new technologies, such as 5G and artificial intelligence (AI).
