MTN South Africa is aiming to reach 25% coverage of South Africa’s population with 5G infrastructure by the end of the year, and 60% by 2025, according to CEO Charles Molapisi, TechCentral writes. The company currently has a total of 1,000 5G mobile sites. MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita, meanwhile, said the company is pleased with the outcome of the regulator’s IMT auction, saying the spectrum it acquired – at a cost of ZAR5.2 billion (USD351.5 million) – puts it in good stead to expand its 4G/LTE and 5G coverage across South Africa. MTN secured 100MHz of spectrum across three frequency bands: 20MHz in the 800MHz band, 40MHz in the 2.6GHz band and 40MHz in the 3.5GHz band.
Meanwhile, Molapisi also revealed that MTN will begin the decommissioning of its 3G network in 2025/2026, with 4G and 5G becoming the principal technologies used to deliver telecoms services to its customers.