Ericsson has been selected by MTN South Africa as a 5G network modernization vendor. Ericsson will supply 5G products and solutions from its Radio Access Network (RAN), transport and Core portfolios, with commercial rollout expected to start in 2020.<\/p>\n
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As part of its transformation strategy, MTN South Africa is upgrading its core network to support 3GPP-compliant 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) architecture.<\/p>\n
5G commercialization is planned between 2020 and 2022, with a focus on use cases and applications relevant in the South African context. These include: Enhanced Mobile Broadband, Fixed Wireless Access, and the Internet of Things (IoT). MTN and Ericsson are working together to identify and develop 5G use cases and applications that will contribute to the digital transformation of industry verticals.<\/p>\n
In addition to providing end-to-end 5G capabilities, Ericsson has been chosen to modernize MTN South Africa\u2019s existing LTE and legacy radio access networks as part of a three-year deal signed earlier this year. This is aimed at accelerating MTN South Africa\u2019s digitalization ambitions in the expanding South African market.<\/p>\n
MTN is using 5G New Radios (5G NR), basebands, and MINI-LINK microwave transmission products from the\u00a0Ericsson Radio System\u00a0portfolio to enhance network quality and user experiences for the company\u2019s 30 million customers. Ericsson has also provided MTN with an\u00a0Ericsson Cloud Core\u00a0network, including 5G Evolved Packet Core (5G EPC) and User Data Management (UDM).<\/p>\n
Giovanni Chiarelli, Chief Technology and Information Officer, MTN South Africa, says: \u201cSouth Africa is undergoing a huge digital transformation, which will open up new business opportunities and boost the nation\u2019s economy. To enable and speed up this process, MTN, with Ericsson as our partner, is rapidly upgrading our network to deliver the quality, capacity, and overall network performance that our enterprise and customers demand. Launching 5G will accomplish this transformation and, with fixed wireless access, will ensure high quality, increased capacity, and greater reliability for our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicolas Blixell, Vice President, Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: \u201cWith this deal MTN South Africa will be one of the true 5G pioneers in Africa. We will work closely with them, just as we have done with other generations of technology, to bring the benefits of 5G to them and their customers. Citizens, enterprises, industry and society in general in South Africa are set to benefit enormously from 5G and we are here to help MTN South Africa make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ericsson now has more than 70 commercial 5G agreements or contracts with unique communication service providers, of which 23 are live networks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ericsson has been selected by MTN South Africa as a 5G network modernization vendor. Ericsson will supply 5G products and solutions from its Radio Access Network (RAN), transport and Core portfolios, with commercial rollout expected to start in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[103,171,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-5g-news","8":"tag-5g-ericsson","9":"tag-5g-launch-africa","10":"tag-mtn-5g"},"yoast_head":"\n