Airtel Africa has today announced that its Tanzania subsidiary, Airtel Tanzania plc (‘Airtel Tanzania’), has purchased 140 MHz of additional spectrum spread across the 2600 MHz (2 blocks of 2x15MHz) and 3500 MHz bands from the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) for a gross consideration of $60.1m.
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This additional spectrum will support our network expansion in the market for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband capability, including the 5G rollout, providing significant capacity to accommodate our continued strong data growth in the country. This investment reflects our continued confidence in the opportunity inherent in the Tanzanian market, supporting the local communities and economy through furthering digital inclusion and connectivity.
Airtel Tanzania will not be the first telecom in East Africa to launch 5G technology in East Africa, in March last year, Safaricom has today launched the first commercial 5G network in the region using both Huawei and Nokia for their network infrastructure. Using Nokia’s radio and FastMile 5G gateways provides ultra-fast Fixed Wireless Access services to subscribers. At the launch, Safaricom also showcased 5G hologram and UHD video communication using a live 5G network.
5G technology will enable new applications in areas such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence for Safaricom subscribers. It will also benefit enterprises across important energy, healthcare, education, transport, and entertainment applications.
Initial Safaricom 5G speed tests during the launch the fastest speed hit 1.3 Gbps (down). Up speeds are pretty normal and match what you would get with 4G standards. This is the same thing in other countries that have had the service for a little longer. We looking forward to checking out Airtel Tanzania’s 5G speeds when they launch.
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