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MTN launches its 5G network today in South Africa

Tech news 30 June 2020

MTN has officially launched its first 5G network in Africa and the Middle East region which it announced to go live in South Africa today.

MTN CEO Godfrey Motsa stated that at launch, the MTN 5G network will support speeds up to 10 times faster than 4G. The network plans to eventually enable up to 100 times faster speeds than 4G.

MTN will offer home Wi-Fi and mobile plans and Home plans will include fixed LTE Wi-Fi routers to connect users to the 5G wireless network.

The network spans 100 sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth and is made up of bands that were granted as part of temporary spectrum assigned by ICASA as well as other bands are being used dynamically.

The spectral breakdown is as follows:

3.5 GHz at 58 sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Bloemfontein
2100MHz and 1800MHz at 35 sites in Johannesburg and Pretoria
700MHz at 5 sites in Port Alfred, Hopetown, Virginia Queenstown and Tsantsabane
28GHz at 3 sites in Hatfield (Pretoria), Edenvale and Durban

MTN states that routers and 5G smartphones with a SIM will be available from the 1st of July.

In terms of mobile 5G plans, MTN customers with a 5G-enabled smartphone or tablet will automatically connect to the 5G network in areas where it is available.

5G home Wi-Fi will support an average speed of 100Mbps, with maximum speeds of 500Mbps and the 5G mobile plans will have an average speed of 50Mbps, with a maximum speed of 500Mbps.

Here is the pricing:

Plan	Anytime Data	Night Express	24-month SIM-only	36-month SIM-only
5G 75GB	75GB	75GB	R699	R499
5G 100GB	100GB	100GB	R799	R599
5G 200GB	200GB	200GB	R1 099	R849
5G 300GB	300GB	300GB	R1 199	R949
5G 400GB	400GB	400GB	R1 399	R1 099
5G 500GB	500GB	500GB	R1 599	R1 299