NEWS
Vodacom
Group launches
Africa’s first
commercial
5G service
ICT Minister visits Technology
Park in Egypt
V
odacom Group has announced that
it has created Africa’s first standards-
based, commercial 5G service in Lesotho
using 3.5GHz spectrum to initially deliver
Fixed-Wireless Access broadband services to
two enterprise customers.
The immediate benefit of 5G technology
for Vodacom subscribers in Lesotho includes
the quicker deployment of broadband
services with fibre-like speeds, meaning
that entrepreneurs, industry shapers and
the government will be able to develop and
incubate innovative applications to power
Digital Transformation in the country.
Vodacom Group has also announced that
it has deployed the same standards-based
5G technology in South Africa, with speeds
more than 700 Mbps and latencies of
less than 10 milliseconds. This will exceed
1Gbps as new software versions and
devices become available.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group Chief
Executive Officer, said: “Vodacom prides
itself on being a market leader and we
are extremely pleased to be the first to
deliver 5G services to customers in Africa.
What we’ve accomplished in Lesotho is an
example of what can be achieved in Africa,
should the requisite spectrum also be made
available. Vodacom will be able to make 5G
services available to its customers in South
Africa once requisite spectrum is assigned.
Global technological advancements are
evolving at a rapid pace and South Africa
can’t afford to be left behind, particularly
when we look at some of the potential use
cases for 5G to support critical sectors of our
society such as healthcare and education.”
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The Minister of Communications and Information
Technology (MCIT) visited Borg Al-Arab Technology Park
T
he Minister of Communications and
Information Technology (MCIT)
visited Borg Al-Arab Technology Park
in Alexandria, Egypt, as part of his
inspection tours to follow up on the
regularity of work in the technology parks.
Amr Talaat, accompanied by National
Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA)
Acting Executive President, Mustafa
Abdel-Wahed; Information Technology
Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)
Acting CEO and Chairman of Silicon,
Waha Maha Rashad; Information
Technology Institute (ITI) Chairman
Heba Saleh; Advisor to Minister for
Technology Parks, Sherine El Gendy; and
several officials of the MCIT.
During the visit, Talaat highlighted the
significance of the technology parks in
supporting the ICT industry and creating
job opportunities for youth. He pointed
out that the priority of the work during
the previous period was to develop the
strategy of the ICT sector to complete
what has been built before, develop
executive plans to enable ministries and
the State’s organs technologically and
assist them in undertaking their tasks.
The four technology parks in Borg Al
Arab, Assiut, Sadat City and Beni Suef
are being developed to maximise benefit
in them through promoting investment
opportunities and offer a range of
incentives to attract new investments.
This is in addition to creating a favourable
environment for developing digital
industries, implanting the electronics
manufacturing, supporting technological
innovation and expanding start-up and
innovators incubation programmes.
The tour included visiting NTRA premises
and the Technology Innovation Cluster. n
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