Telecommunications giant Vodacom has launched its fifth-generation (5G) network across three South African cities.

Twenty 5G sites, 18 in Johannesburg and Pretoria and two in Cape Town, have been switched on, with further sites planned for other parts of the country in due course.

The network, which will support both mobile- and fixed-wireless services, is available with immediate effect to Vodacom customers with 5G-enabled devices within a 5G coverage area.

The launch followed the allocation – and activation – of temporary spectrum, including the 1 x 50 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band, by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa last month.

Vodacom and Liquid Telecom also concluded managed network services and national roaming agreements for a national 5G network in December 2019.

“As a more efficient technology than its predecessors, such as third-generation and fourth-generation (4G), the deployment of 5G will help Vodacom manage the 40% increase in mobile network traffic and the 250% increase in fixed traffic experienced during the Covid-19 lockdown,” said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.

“It will help us improve our network efficiency during the Covid-19 national state of disaster,” he added, noting that the allocation of the temporary spectrum had already mitigated the network congestion experienced since the start of the lockdown period.

Vodacom expects to expand its initial 5G rollout as more smartphones, WiFi and fixed-wireless access routers become available.

Existing 4G tariffs for mobile and fixed will initially apply to Vodacom’s 5G service offering, with special 5G tariffs to be announced in due course.

Vodacom is currently offering 5G-enabled devices, such as the LG V50 5G smartphone and the Huawei 5G CPE PRO fixed-wireless access router, to enable customers access to the 5G network within six coverage clusters, namely Midrand, Sandton, Menlyn, Centurion, Waterfall and Sunninghill and Century City.

“They can then either sign up for a new 5G device deal or upgrade online. The new 5G device will be delivered to the customer’s home during the national lockdown period,” Joosub explained.