SA’s Data-Only Network Rain Launches First Commercial 5G Network In Africa

[Image Source: Rain.co.za]

Rain a South African mobile network operator is the first African telecoms operator to launch a 5G network with their 5G wireless home broadband service.

Rain’s offering right now consists of a single uncapped package for R1000/month in select areas within Jo-burg and Pretoria at the time of launch. During this year and the next, the service will be expanded to Cape Town, Durban and other major metros within the country.

Rain is promising maximum speeds of 700Mbit/s but expects real-world use speeds to be around the 200Mbit/s range (still freakishly fast, if you ask me and my measly 10Mbit/s ZOL connection).

Rain is very optimistic about the business prospects of South Africa’s 5G network and will continue to invest more in 5G networks and better serve users.

Rain CEO Willem Roos

Competitors Vodacom and MTN are yet to get access to the spectrum required for 5G and so are not expected to start rolling out their network this year.