By State Owned Mobile Network Operator, NetOne is ready to officially launch its 5G service, TechnoMag can exclusively reveal. The mobile network operator has been silently testing its 5G across the city and says that it’s now ready for deployment.
NetOne stated that it has been running a couple of sites on the 5G technology including the parliament site in Mount Hampden, which offered seamless connectivity to local and roaming delegates during the SADC summit.
Speaking to the NetOne CEO, Mr Raphael Mushananwani, he stated that they are pleased with the smooth service so far and they are now nearing the official launch of the service expected next month.
“We have been pilot testing various sites across Harare, we are happy with the transition and uptake so far, another key market that we are targeting is the IoT, where we are going to be connecting not just humans but machines as we make technology an enabler,” said Mushanawani.
The NetOne CEO stated that the technology is not going to be cheap and easy to deploy, hence they will start with markets where they will easily reap returns, but with a bias towards industrialization, construction and mining industries.
NetOne has been benefiting from their recent $ 71 million partnership with Huawei, a Chinese-based telecommunications giant that has been affording them infrastructure capacity for the past decades.
Through the China Exim bank loan facility, NetOne has been servicing its $ 218 million 5g expansion deal and is eyeing 5g capacitation using the same facility for network growth, capacity and market penetration.
Their competitor Econet Wirelesss Zimbabwe launched its 5g service.
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