MTN pilots LTE network at AfricaCom Cape Town

MTN has piloted the first ever Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Cape Town at the AfricaCom conference.

The theme of this year’s conference at the International Convention Centre (ICC), attracting 5,000 delegates from across the world, is ‘Advancing Innovation and Profitability for a Digital Africa’.

It is the first time the Mother City has ever been connected to the LTE network and comes after Africa’s biggest telecoms company rolled out a large scale LTE pilot covering more than 100 sites in Gauteng.

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“MTN has been delighted by the phenomenal feedback received from our stakeholders since the Gauteng pilot kicked off in July this year, and it was only natural that a big metropolitan city such as Cape Town should enjoy the benefits of this new generation network,” said Kanagaratnam Lambotharan, MTN South Africa Chief Technology Officer.

However, the technology will only be in place during the two-day event on the 9 and 10 November. The new generation network is not expected to be fully rolled out until the next two to three years, once the regulator allocates the required spectrum.

“MTN’s technical team and partners have been working at full throttle to ensure that we have the technology on the ground for the duration of AfricaCom. We are confident that the pilot in Cape Town will elevate customer experience in the Mother City and give our stakeholders an invaluable opportunity to optimally tap into future services and applications that the LTE ecosystem is expected to provide,” he added.

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