MTN launched its 5G network in South Africa on 30 June with 100 sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, and Port Elizabeth.
This 5G launch, MTN SA CTIO Giovanni Chiarelli said, was made possible, in part, by the recent allocation of temporary spectrum by ICASA.
MTN delivers 5G connectivity using four spectrum bands – 3.5 GHz (58 sites), 2,100MHz and 1,800MHz (35 sites), 700MHz (5 sites), and 28GHz (3 sites).
The operator is also re-farming some of its 4G spectrum to allow it to run 4G and 5G spectrum, at the same time, in the same band.
While MTN’s 5G network is currently only available in a handful of suburbs, the company is planning to significantly expand its coverage in future.
MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa said their 5G network rollout will be ramped up to more sites once government allocates permanent spectrum through the planned auction later this year.
“Our call to the regulator and government is to release permanent 4G and 5G spectrum as a matter of urgency, so that we can fuel the digital revolution,” said Motsa.
MTN 5G tested, with impressive results
MTN’s service is offered in two variants – 5G home Wi-Fi and 5G mobile.
MTN said its 5G home Wi-Fi offers average speeds of 100Mbps and peak speeds of 500Mbps, while 5G mobile offers average speeds of 50Mbps and peak speeds of 500Mbps.
To test this claim, MyBroadband did drive tests in 5G coverage areas using a Huawei P40 Pro, which features the Huawei Kirin 990 5G chipset.
MyBroadband also tried to test the network using LG V50 5G devices, but these phones would not connect to the MTN 5G network.
This was not unexpected, as MTN is not advertising the LG V50 as a compatible device and is offering the more feature-rich LG Velvet instead.
We tested the download speed, upload speed, and latency in multiple locations in Johannesburg using the MyBroadband speed test app.
MyBroadband’s speed test servers are hosted at NAPAfrica in Teraco’s vendor-neutral data centres to ensure a neutral testing environment.
The results were exceptional. The average download speed was above 500Mbps while the average upload speed was 84Mbps. The average latency was 15ms.
Download speeds peaked at well above 700Mbps and upload speeds peaked at over 100Mbps.
Even when driving at 110km/h on the N1 highway, MyBroadband achieved download speeds of 431Mbps.
The tables below provide an overview of the performance of MTN’s 5G service in Gauteng in areas with good coverage and signal strength.
| MTN 5G Network Performance | |
|---|---|
| Component | Performance |
| Average Download Speed | 503Mbps |
| Maximum Download Speed | 752Mbps |
| Minimum Download Speed | 233Mbps |
| Average Upload Speed | 84Mbps |
| Maximum Upload Speed | 107Mbps |
| Minimum Upload Speed | 30Mbps |
| Average Latency | 15ms |
| Lowest Latency | 12ms |
| Highest Latency | 20ms |
Epson Downs Shopping Centre
| Epsom Downs Shopping Centre | ||
| Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 745.411 | 100.268 | 16 |
| 733.655 | 101.737 | 15 |
| 722.487 | 99.114 | 15 |
| 660.540 | 100.025 | 15 |
| 658.541 | 100.929 | 14 |
| 613.551 | 100.860 | 15 |
| 545.677 | 76.137 | 14 |
| 536.001 | 96.331 | 14 |
| 511.928 | 106.606 | 13 |
| 507.039 | 78.301 | 15 |
| 494.263 | 82.709 | 15 |
| 477.483 | 77.737 | 16 |
| 468.510 | 89.649 | 14 |
| 436.377 | 95.278 | 15 |
| 394.195 | 85.243 | 16 |
| 232.820 | 101.063 | 13 |
Nando’s Bryanston
| Nando’s Bryanston | ||
| Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 549.175 | 99.058 | 15 |
| 548.196 | 99.538 | 15 |
| 510.852 | 63.050 | 13 |
| 505.547 | 100.455 | 14 |
| 468.507 | 100.681 | 15 |
| 466.020 | 97.070 | 12 |
| 451.199 | 100.004 | 15 |
| 443.349 | 98.794 | 16 |
| 419.388 | 80.913 | 16 |
| 380.837 | 93.037 | 15 |
| 379.155 | 83.984 | 15 |
Design Quarter
| Design Quarter | ||
| Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 726.638 | 88.793 | 15 |
| 691.043 | 81.256 | 15 |
| 681.484 | 94.407 | 15 |
| 670.419 | 95.236 | 14 |
| 617.792 | 92.646 | 14 |
| 604.201 | 66.560 | 16 |
| 584.556 | 92.486 | 15 |
| 561.271 | 56.361 | 15 |
| 535.525 | 65.852 | 15 |
| 468.743 | 77.908 | 16 |
| 356.432 | 77.934 | 18 |
| 310.368 | 36.451 | 19 |
| 269.582 | 62.395 | 17 |
The Palazzo Montecasino
| The Palazzo Montecasino | ||
| Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 618.704 | 104.830 | 15 |
| 595.925 | 92.666 | 16 |
| 583.649 | 64.822 | 18 |
| 570.778 | 98.707 | 15 |
| 549.234 | 104.806 | 16 |
| 518.828 | 103.099 | 14 |
| 512.891 | 100.257 | 12 |
| 498.188 | 97.289 | 16 |
| 474.200 | 67.069 | 16 |
| 446.369 | 85.375 | 15 |
| 402.167 | 38.003 | 20 |
William Nicol Drive
| William Nicol Drive | ||
| Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 751.588 | 100.357 | 15 |
| 729.140 | 98.091 | 15 |
| 712.001 | 100.929 | 14 |
| 641.528 | 100.860 | 15 |
| 588.624 | 92.162 | 15 |
| 528.262 | 102.273 | 14 |
| 480.604 | 63.952 | 15 |
| 469.628 | 102.883 | 14 |
| 463.300 | 99.197 | 17 |
| 459.413 | 58.443 | 16 |
| 419.906 | 99.616 | 15 |
| 411.028 | 33.933 | 20 |
| 361.274 | 37.137 | 16 |
| 352.960 | 75.233 | 15 |
| 309.735 | 36.372 | 15 |
MTN Head Office
| MTN Head Office | ||
| Download Speed (Mbps) | Upload Speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 572.649 | 99.860 | 19 |
| 565.044 | 97.580 | 17 |
| 563.028 | 99.463 | 15 |
| 553.233 | 97.150 | 19 |
| 542.731 | 93.821 | 16 |
| 458.154 | 95.626 | 14 |
| 366.937 | 33.387 | 15 |
| 362.700 | 96.158 | 19 |
| 347.488 | 67.938 | 16 |
| 280.692 | 56.675 | 15 |
| 272.136 | 42.527 | 14 |
| 253.096 | 56.990 | 16 |
| 245.122 | 29.858 | 17 |
