Namibia’s Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) has launched 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the country’s capital city, Windhoek. This puts Namibia among the few countries in the world to have the technology, and the second in Africa.
4G LTE is up to ten times faster than the 3G. Speaking during the launch, MTC’s managing director Miguel Geraldes said customers would definitely have a much better experience in 4G as given the faster speed as there would be no latency. Geraldes further noted many more users would be accommodated in the same base station.
Indoor coverage is much better with 4G since frequency is lower in urban areas, and improved coverage in rural areas using a much lower frequency.
The technology is deployed in more than 1000 kilometres of fibre backbones in Namibia, with the latest technology from the West Africa Cable System (WACS) launched last week in South Africa.
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The whole of Windhoek is expected to be able to access the 4G service by the end of July 2012. According to the Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA), MTC also aims to have 45% of the current Namibian population, including those in rural areas, covered with the new service within the next 12 months.
MTC partnered with a consortium of international investors in the laying of the WACS cable, and this provides the company with a competitive advantage as far as ICT in Africa is concerned. Zambia’s AfriConnect is the other African LTE provider, having launched its 4G technology earlier this year.
This story originally appeared on HumanIPO.
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