Photo Credit:Waldo Swiegers.

Telecommunications giant Vodacom has launched its fifth-generation (5G) network across three South African cities.

“Vodacom has switched on Africa’s first live 5G mobile network in three cities — Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town — with further roll-outs planned in other parts of the country,” the operator said on Monday.

“This network will support both mobile and fixed-wireless services and is currently available on 20 live 5G sites, 18 of which are in Gauteng and two in Cape Town,” it said.

Vodacom said it was able to fast-track the launch of 5G thanks to recently assigned temporary spectrum from Icasa for the duration of the national state of disaster related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The spectrum includes 50MHz in the 3.5mGHz band, which was used to fast-track the network’s launch,Vodacom had also concluded managed network services and national roaming agreements for a national 5G network, which forms part of the offering.

Vodacom announced in 2018 that it had begun modernising its network to prepare for the deployment of standards-based 5G technology in South Africa, subject to the allocation of spectrum.

The operator expects to expand its initial 5G roll-out as more smartphones, Wi-Fi and fixed-wireless routers become available. The current 5G network equipment deployed also operates in the same frequency bands which are expected to be permanently assigned through an auction later in the year, said group CEO Shameel Joosub in a statement.

Vodacom has also unveiled its first fixed-wireless broadband plans using its newly launched 5G network. One plan offers 800GB of data for R1 499/month.

The plans, which include a router, start at R899/month for 100GB of data (plus 100GB late-night data) on a 24-month contract. That option includes a Nokia FastMile 5G Gateway router.

The prices go up from there, with a 400GB (plus 400GB late-night data) plan with a Huawei 5G CPE Pro router costing R1 799/month on a 24-month contract, or R1 499/month on a 36-month contract.