Digicel Samoa announced that it has officially kicked off its rollout of 5G services with five 5G sites going live in the Apia CBD.
The sites cover the Levili Data Centre, FMFMII, NFP building, Tatte building and Frankie mall. Digicel customers with 5G-compatible devices will be able to use 5G in those areas, the company said.
Digicel also said that initial test results at the new 5G sites demonstrated average speeds of 550-600 Mbps, albeit with the caveat that actual speeds will depend on the usual factors (location, distance from the mobile tower, local conditions, concurrent users, hardware and software configuration and download/upload destination, etc).
The live 5G launch – the first in Samoa – comes four months after Digicel Samoa was granted conditional approval by the Government of Samoa to launch 5G technology. At the time, Digicel said it was upgrading its cell tower sites using Nokia’s AirScale non-standalone (NSA) 5G, starting with sites in Apia's CBD.
“We’re building on the strong foundation of our 4G network to usher in a new era of connectivity with 5G,” said Digicel Samoa CEO Anthony Seuseu in a statement on Monday. “This launch isn’t just about faster speeds, it’s about delivering an exceptional experience for our customers in Samoa.”
Digicel Samoa has not given a timeline for when 5G will expanded to the rest of Apia and Samoa in general.
Digicel’s sole competitor, Vodafone Samoa, said in March that it plans to launch 5G ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2024 in October.