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Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Zimbabwe Adopt 4G LTE Network as Kenya does some Test-Runs

by Felix Omondi

Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Zimbabwe Adopt 4G LTE Network as Kenya does some Test-Runs

Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) is poised to become the worldwide standard for delivering mobile data and voice services for the future. This is because of the advanced user experience such as ultra-high-speed internet connection, accelerating broadband penetration and stimulating digital innovation.

The 4G LTE Network technology has been around for quite some time now, but most people are contended with their 3G devices or the old basic types of phones. Most people postpone adapting 4G until their current contract expires. What many don’t realize is that by not adapting 4G sooner rather than later, they are actually missing out a lot in terms of experiencing best features that the new mobile development has got to offer. Some of these benefits are as listed below:

  • 4G download speed is 10 times faster than that of 3G network. This means you can download songs, videos and documents in fractions of a second. No more buffering while watching YouTube videos and live-streaming of full movie becomes the norm instead of a privilege.
  • Most smartphones and tablets currently in production come with front-camera. With 4G Network, video chatting becomes easier and faster. This will save you the trouble of typing when you are chatting on your phone.
  • Business executive will enjoy faster internet connection which will facilitate the business carry out its activities much faster: mobile cloud services are essential to business. With 4G, business executive will enjoy faster speed of file sharing, editing, upload and download of important business documents and presentations.
  • With 4G, multiplayer online gaming becomes a possibility which was impossible with 3G network. This means gamers can interact with other gamers in real time over their mobile device.
  • Most smartphones and tablets come with the feature for sharing mobile hotspot. With 4G network, the strength and speed of the mobile hotspot shared will be extra fast and you will be able to connect all the devices in your home quite easily.

With all the potential benefits, users in Africa stand to gain by utilizing the 4G network, more and more countries are gearing up to adopt the 4G LTE Network. Ugandans now enjoy 4G Network courtesy of the Smile Communications Uganda Limited which is the only operator in Uganda to provide a full true 4G. 4G LTE Network was launched in June last year.

Smile Communications Tanzania Limited launched the 4G Network in Dar es Salaam back on May 2013 thus making Tanzania the first country in Africa to adapt 4G Network, and it was later launched in Arusha on December 2013. Arusha is an important hub in terms of socio-economic functions in Tanzania, and the launch of 4G LTE Network there was a deliberate move to allow economic stakeholder become more productive.

In Ghana, two companies; Surfline Communications LTD and Alcatel-Lucent have teamed up to establish 4G LTE Network across Ghana. In this union, Alcatel-Lucent provides the hardware, software, does the installations, maintenance, optimization and management of the services in a bid to help out Surfline avail the next generation service to its customers.

In Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless was the first operator to launch the 4G Network back in August 2013. Although at its launch, it was not to be availed throughout the areas Econet network covers, they decided to begin with the CBDs of Bulaway, Harare and the town of Victoria Falls.

All the above nations have already launched the 4G LTE Network in their country, Kenya is busy gearing up for the launch of the same. The main hindrance is that Kenya is yet to comply with the advice given to it by Ericsson that it should first adopt an Open Access Model, which would enable the service to be rolled out throughout Kenya as opposed to just a section of the country. However the leading telecommunication company Safaricom, is conducting some test run and is set to launch the 4G LTE Network once it has cleared with the logistics.

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