Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 37 | Page 14

NEWS ZTE and MTN launch the first 5G SA network in East Africa Z TE and MTN Uganda have jointly launched the first 5G SA network in East Africa, demonstrating 5G use cases at an event themed ‘Experience the Future Together’, taking place in the Nyonyi Garden, Kampala, Uganda. ZTE and MTN Uganda have showcased a high-speed 5G SA network under the 60 MHz spectrum bandwidth with an actual rate of more than 1.494 Gbps, which can support a variety of applications, such as Gigabit withoutfFibre connectivity, Cloud XR, ultra-HD live broadcast, automatic driving and remote surgery. Its deployment and operation adopt ZTE’s end-to-end 5G equipment, including Common Core, to achieve the complete separation of the signalling plane and the data plane without relying on the existing LTE core network EPC. Furthermore, the network can further support typical 5G applications, including uRLLC and mMTC, through smooth upgrade. In addition, ZTE also presented its end-to-end commercialised 5G solutions, including the 5G Common Core, Beyond 100G Transmission, 5G Flexhaul, 5G New Radio and Big Video, as well as its 5G terminal devices, such as Axon 10 Pro 5G smartphones, 5G indoor and outdoor routers. “ZTE is very keen on sharing new technologies with MTN,” said Bill Yi, Vice President at ZTE. “We have been constantly enhancing our 5G capabilities and have become a core supplier of end-to-end solutions in the global ICT industry.” ////////////////// Frogfoot fibre now live in Polokwane F rogfoot Networks (Pty) Ltd, a licensed open access fibre network provider, has announced that it has commenced with a phased rollout of its infrastructure in the Limpopo capital Polokwane. Areas that have gone live with high speed broadband Internet are Bendor Park and Welgelegen, with over 600 homes passed, though this makes up just around 10% of the company’s planned fibre network rollout in the city. businesses that are based in and around the residential areas.” According to Frogfoot Head of Sales, Shane Chorley, the expansion forms part of the infrastructure company’s strategy of rolling out fibre to secondary towns across South Africa, including the likes of Bloemfontein, East London, Ermelo, Middelburg, Pietermaritzburg, Richards Bay and Witbank. “Frogfoot is expanding in these towns as they meet our criteria in terms of the number of houses that can be connected, as well as the average household income in these areas,” said Chorley. 14 INTELLIGENTCIO Shane Chorley, Frogfoot Head of Sales “While we are looking primarily at the consumer market, there are opportunities to target certain types of smaller “Previous experience of expanding our network around South Africa has shown that these smaller towns are data starved and that the introduction of affordable broadband connectivity leads to noticeable changes in user behaviour,” added Chorley. “It might take a while, but as people become exposed to the possibilities of quality high speed internet, they consume far more data than before.” www.intelligentcio.com