MTN South Africa has reached a peak download speed of 10.35 gigabits per second in a trial that points to where mobile networks are heading. The speed is real, but it is not what customers will get on their phones any time soon.
What MTN Tested
The company completed a trial of 5G-Advanced technology in the Upper 6GHz band, which spans 6.425GHz to 7.125GHz. MTN says it is the first such trial in Africa. That is the operator’s own claim, and other operators on the continent have not been shown to confirm or dispute it.
5G-Advanced is an upgrade to existing 5G and is widely seen as a stepping stone towards 6G, which is expected around the end of the decade.
MTN worked with equipment supplier Huawei at its headquarters in the Johannesburg area. The setup used 400MHz of spectrum, a standalone 5G core network and wideband antennas with beamforming, which focuses radio signals on individual devices instead of spraying them in all directions.
Why the Speed Needs Context
The 10.35Gbps figure is a peak result from controlled conditions at a single site. It does not reflect what subscribers will experience on MTN’s live network. Many factors will shape real-world performance, including spectrum access, infrastructure investment, compatible devices and the cost of deployment.
MTN has already pushed speeds in this direction. Reports last year said it reached 8.6Gbps in an earlier 5.5G trial with Huawei.
What It Could Mean for Home Internet
MTN says the band could improve fixed wireless access, where households get fibre-like broadband over the air instead of through a cable. For suburbs and growing communities where fibre is slow to arrive, that could be valuable. The company also says extra spectrum would help networks stay consistent when many people are online at once.
Those benefits depend on decisions that have not been made. Without assigned spectrum, nothing in this trial can reach customers.
What to Watch Next
Three things will decide whether the trial leads anywhere:
- Whether ICASA assigns Upper 6GHz spectrum to mobile operators.
- How much of the band, if any, is kept for Wi-Fi.
- How quickly device makers support the band in phones and home routers.
For now, the trial shows what the technology can do and gives MTN a stronger voice in the spectrum debate. Whether South Africans ever see those speeds at home will depend on regulators more than engineers.
