• During Africa Tech Festival this week, Huawei South Africa signed an MoU with Menar and MTN on establishing a 5G private network at a the Gugulethu mine in Mpumalanga.
• The MoU is the latest step taken by Huawei in establishing the local smart mine vertical.
• The newly developed mine in Mpumalanga is expected to start producing in early 2024.

This week at Africa Tech Festival a number of deals have been closed. The latest for Huawei South Africa involves the smart mines vertical that the company has been working to foster in recent years through the deployment of 5G private networks.

The ecosystem is taking yet another step forward, as Huawei SA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MTN and private investment firm Menar.

The MoU will look to enable the implementation of 5G technology at the Gugulethu mine, in Mpumalanga. This newly developed mine is expected to start producing in early 2024, with it managed through Canyon Coal, a subsidiary of Menar.

“The companies involved now look forward to further discussions after the signing of the MOU, which entails the possibility of rolling out a three-phased project to install 5G connectivity on the mine campus and shafts amongst other elements,” highlighted Huawei in a release sent to Hypertext.

“5G technology is increasingly being adopted in South Africa. At MTN, we are excited to be playing a leading role in this space by using our world-class network and systems to promote the growth and sustainability of our enterprise customers,” noted Tumi Chamayou, chief business enterprise officer at MTN, who signed said MoU on behalf of the network operator.

Through the MoU, Huawei explained that Gugulethu has become the second mine under the Menar stable to form a partnership with MTN and the Chinese company.

In December 2022, Canyon Coal’s Phalanndwa Colliery based in Mpumalanga, signed an agreement that ultimately saw the mine adopting 5G technology too. The team at Phalanndwa reportedly registered improvements when it comes to enhanced communication, safety, and real-time monitoring, which are but some of the elements that 5G is cited for fostering in terms of the smart mines vertical.

“Importantly, 5G supports Artificial Intelligence (AI) based real-time analytics, thus enabling data driven decision making which is critical in the mining environment,” emphasised Huawei MTN KAD account director, Jason Shao, who also took part in the signing ceremony.

With smart mines proving a solid testbed for applications in other verticals, it is certainly an area that Huawei is looking to invest heavily in locally, especially when it comes to showcasing the capabilities of 5G and the enhancements it can yield.

[Image – Provided]