Yes, we know, MTNs 5G service hasnt exactly been kept a secret. Weve all known it was coming, even if the first proper look at it was also our first look at the rollout being postponed. Its here now, thats the important thing.

The new service was made official today during a live stream (because thats normal, now) from MTN, which saw MTN CEO Godfrey Motsa, chief consumer officer Mapula Bodibe and chief technology officer Giovanni Chiarelli outline what subscribers can expect from the service. Heres what weve learned.

MTN opted to do a live test of 5G during its stream, crossing over to someone out in Bryanston, Johannesburg. The demo was nothing but a mobile phone speed test, which nonetheless served up a speed of 608Mbps, along with an upload speed of around 111Mbps. A second speed test took the speeds to more than 750Mbps, with a similar upload speed to the initial test.

5G is supposed to make network congestion a thing of the past, which is something wed like to test on the network in person rather than just believing the marketing hype. Those speeds, no matter the network load, would be impressive.

This is another feature that well want to see in action on a fully-loaded network but MTNs punting the networks gaming skills. The big thing there is latency, which is kinda of the opposite of lag. Being faster than your opponents on the trigger doesnt matter if your connection is slower. Weve seen some serious weirdness in online games in high-latency situations (before the ubiquity of fiber connections). Thatll be a thing of the past but like we said, seeing is believing.

MTNs 5G service is now available but its not available across the country. There are several sites with 5G like, in major South African cities. If youre in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Durban, there is 5G coverage available. Its not city-wide in all those locations, but MTNs got ambitions in that line. The company hopes to expand 5G coverage to at least 10 million people in the next 12 months. Eventually, the company hopes to match its 96% 4G coverage in South Africa.

Game streaming technology is the next big target for various tech companies but were not really on the list for it. Thats got a little to do with our local audience footprint but its mostly to do with our lack of internet speed. You need a very fat pipe to stream a PlayStation 4 game over the internet and to a smartphone. MTN demoed just that with gamer Sam Wrist, and the mobile service provider has partnered with Emerge Gaming to deliver games streamed from the cloud. Again, something else were very keen to try for ourselves.

MTN punted the various possible applications for the service, from self-driving cars (which will need to be connected to a reliable, speedy connection for various reasons) to internet-of-things devices becoming more commonplace yes, even in South Africa to creative types being able to upload content to services like YouTube or streaming live to Twitch without hindrance.

Businesses should also get a boost, as tech-based gatherings like hackathons (when those are allowed again) will see more people connected in the same area, streaming, uploading or testing new products without being bottlenecked by a mobile internet connection. This is also the starting point for so-called smart cities, which require constant, fast internet access in order to exist.

MTNs 5G is available in South Africa but the main question on everyones mind is: Where the heck can I actually get it? MTNs got a 5G coverage map available, which.. mostly disappointing at the moment, especially when compared with MTNs LTE coverage.

In order to access 5G, youll need a 5G smartphone (there are three available from 1 July Huaweis P40, P40 Pro and LGs Velvet 5G are the first on the network), while 5G contracts are also available. MTNs also introducing an unlimited data package as well, but youll have to check with MTN stores for those. As for pricing, you can get your 5G contract from R700/pm (for 75GB/pm), all the way up to R1600/pm (for 500GB/pm). Expect your unlimited contract to cost more than that.

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MTN has launched its 5G offering in South Africa here's what you need to know - Stuff Magazines