Kampala ready for 5G
Customers with 5G compatible devices can now enjoy the 5G experience using their existing 4G SIM Cards. PHOTO/ EDGAR R. BATTE
What you need to know:
The 11 towers that have successfully tested the 5G technology in Uganda include areas such as Industrial area, Garden City Area, Upper Kololo, Clement Hill, Hannington Road, Lower airstrip Kololo and Wampewo Avenue.
Airtel Uganda has finished testing the viability of 5G network in eleven sites around Kampala as it waits for a green light from the regulator Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
While making the announcement at the company headquarters in Kampala, Mr Manoj Murali, the managing director of Airtel Uganda, said, “We have completed testing on 11 sites in Kampala and those all we are waiting for is the regulator to assign us a spectrum.”
5G
5G is a fifth generation mobile network that enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices at very high speeds.
It delivers higher peak data speeds, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.
Airtel Uganda’s 4G Smartphone is now ready to carry 5G and its numerous applications.
The applications can be in news and video conferencing/broadcasting, healthcare through remote patient monitoring, connected Ambulance that communicates with the Emergency Room and High Definition virtual consultations among others. These applications can also be in augmented reality for the blind, remote expert support in surgery and such things and in manufacturing- machine monitoring and process automation.
The eleven towers that have successfully tested the 5G technology in Uganda include; Industrial area, Garden City Area, Upper Kololo, Clement Hill, Hannington Road, Lower airstrip Kololo and Wampewo Avenue.
Manoj also confirmed that customers with 5G compatible devices can now access the new network using their existing 4G SIM Cards.
However, in a recent conversation with the regulator UCC it became clear that 5G licences will only be ready before the close of this financial year.
The company confirmed that all its sites across the country have been configured and are ready for deployment once the spectrum has been allocated.
Uganda has 10.9 million smartphone monthly users out of the 35 million devices on the network, according to UCC’s 2022 data.
