Cameroon’s MTN set plans to launch 5G

MTN Cameroon appealed for a license to deploy and operate a trial for 5G networks from the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Board, aiming to provide Cameroonians entry to more modernized uses of information technologies, Business in Cameroon reports.

Local media reported that the subsidiary of the South African telecommunications company MTN Group, MTN Cameroon (MTNC), has already put into motion plans to implement high-impact projects to experiment with 5G technology.

MTNC filled for a license from the Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications (ART) to initiate 5G service testing in the country.

“Believing that everyone is entitled to the benefits of modern connected life, MTN Cameroon is currently implementing high-impact projects (…) including experimentation of the 5G technology, whose license request has been filed with the telecom regulator to give Cameroonians access to modern information technology and communications tools,” the operator wrote.

If the telco’s scheme succeeds, the project will revamp Cameroon’s telecommunication infrastructure and industry by obtaining a multitude of prospects provided by the 5G networks.

The company is currently working on implementing its 5G plans to charge the market’s needs, which would make MTNC Cameroon’s main operator to deploy 5G technology.

“The first advantage of 5G is the considerable improvement in connection speed. It allows for even faster connection speeds, which are ten times faster than 4G. Another advantage of 5G is the reduction of latency, which is waiting time between the moment you hit a command button and the moment the instruction is translated on the screen,” Les Echos Solutions wrote in January 2021.

Les Echos Solutions is a Parisienne group dedicated to creating, developing, and managing professionals’ businesses dealing with innovation, telecommunications, financing, and many more.

In parallel, if MTNC’s efforts come to fruition, it would demonstrate immense progress and profit for the telecom company since this would raise its data bundles sales, specifically in two of the main telecom markets, Daoula and Yaounde.

However, the government’s uneasiness lies with the fact that 5G predecessor networks, 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies are still only accessible in some of Cameroon’s areas with poor service quality. Therefore, many critics have questioned the grounds of deployment should the watchdog agree to such license requests if MTNC has not yet to managed to fix its currently available networks.