• MTN South Africa and Huawei have signed a memorandum of understanding.
• The pair co-hosted the IP Day Summit themed around Net5.5G network development.
• They have agreed to jointly promote the large-scale application of Net5.5G locally.

Following Mobile World Congress 2024 earlier this year, we posited whether 5.5 commercial testing would happen in South Africa this year. At the time companies like Huawei were working in other parts of the African continent, but it now looks like 5.5G is being worked on locally.

This as MTN South Africa and Huawei have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate on the development of Net5.5G. The pair recently co-hosted the IP Day Summit themed around the subject of Net5.5G Network Development, with the event culminating in the MoU signing.

“Through this MoU, they will jointly promote the large-scale application of key capabilities of Net5.5G, such as 400GE, SRv6, slicing, and the Network Digital Map, to continuously improve MTN’s service experience and network availability in the mobile and B2B fields, and improve its O&M efficiency,” Huawei explained in a release shared with Hypertext.

Speaking at the Summit, Zoltan Miklos, GM of Access Planning and Architecture at MTN SA, noted how in the cloud and 5G era, the company still faces a range of challenges in terms of service and network operations, security, reliability, and other areas, and that MTN looks forward to deepening cooperation with Huawei in order to address these issues and others.

“Net5.5G is the future of IP networks and Huawei has made long-term investments in ultra-broadband products, network servitisation, network intelligence, and more. He added that Huawei looks forward to helping MTN build a leading IP transport network featuring ultra-broadband, high reliability, and ultimate experience so as to help MTN achieve greater business success,” added Feng Su, president of Huawei’s IP Marketing and Solution Sales Department.

While the precise details of the MoU have not been made public, MTN SA and Huawei will continue to define the Net5.5G target network and support the sustainable development of MTN’s mobile, enterprise, and home broadband services.

“The cooperation between MTN and Huawei will set a good example in the region, accelerate the implementation of new technologies and applications, and drive the sustainable development of regional carriers,” emphasised Huawei.

No timeline has been outlined at this stage, but the prospect of commercial 5.5G in SA has taken another step forward.

[Image – Provided]