Mobile operator Orange Mali has claimed the country’s first 5G network tests, presenting its progress at a pilot project launch event on 7 July attended by government officials including Harouna Mamadou Toureh, the Minister of Communication, Digital Economy & Modernisation of the Administration. Agence Ecofin reports that Orange has begun testing 5G technology in Mali’s capital city Bamako and other regions. At the pilot event, the cellco’s CEO Brelotte Ba declared that 5G ‘will allow us to respond to the explosion in mobile traffic as well as to the growing demand for our customers’ needs in terms of quality of connectivity … thanks to its speed, responsiveness and connectivity capacity, 5G [will support] new uses of digital technology such as virtual reality, new digital formats and content and new functionalities for both professionals and individuals.’
The development is in line with Orange Group CEO Stephane Richard’s declared intentions to launch 5G across the group’s African markets during H2 2021 and 2022.
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2021/07/09/orange-mali-tests-5g/