South Africa’s 5G coverage — MTN vs Telkom vs Vodacom vs Rain

3 years ago 1

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South Africa’s major mobile network operators are continually expanding their 5G networks, with the cellular technology now available through most operators in most of the country’s major metros.

MyBroadband asked MTN, Rain, Telkom, and Vodacom for an update on their 5G coverage in South Africa.

An MTN spokesperson didn’t provide population coverage percentages. However, they offered an update on how many 5G-enabled sites they have in the country.

“We have 1,568 5G capacity sites in South Africa,” they said.

According to the mobile operator’s coverage maps, these 5G capacity sites appear to be focused in South Africa’s metropolitan areas, including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Durban.

It also offers limited coverage in areas surrounding Polokwane, East London, Gqeberha, and Bloemfontein.

MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi recently stated that the network operator would dial back its 5G rollout to focus its investments on battery backups and generators for its towers.

Molapisi said customers should expect further price increases as MTN invests billions in making its network resilient to load-shedding.

Rain told MyBroadband that the operator’s 5G network has expanded to cover more than seven million households.

“Since launching our 5G network in 2019, we have expanded to over 56 new regions, metros, and towns across SA, covering over 7 million households,” it said.

“In 2021, we launched 16 towns; in 2022, we scaled that up to 56 smaller towns and regions. We will continue with this momentum throughout 2023 as we rollout using a new spectrum.”

Rain added that it is deploying backup power solutions at its towers to help fight the effects of load-shedding.

“In addition to expansion plans, we are currently deploying back power solutions to all our sites to reduce the impact of load-shedding and working closely with government, industry bodies and security partners to reduce the risk of battery theft syndication,” it said.

Telkom and Vodacom had not answered our questions by the time of publication.

Battery theft and load-shedding-associated risks affect all of South Africa’s major mobile network operators. According to Wireless Access Provider’s Association executive committee member Paul Colmer, the rotational power cuts are killing 5G in South Africa.

Despite the technology being touted as more energy efficient per bit, the rate at which it transfers data makes its towers consume more energy than other cellular technologies.

“One of the selling points of 5G is that it’s more ‘eco-friendly’ than LTE,” said Colmer.

“But even though 5G consumes less power per bit of data, because it transmits significantly more data than LTE, the net result is also significantly higher power consumption.”

“This is why power — or rather the lack of it — can ultimately be a 5G killer,” he added.

Maps showing MTN, Rain, Telkom, and Vodacom’s 5G coverage across South Africa’s major metros are provided below.