Nigeria’s largest telecoms network MTN will roll out LTE services in Nigeria in July. The service which would be piloted in selected cities will be deployed via the 800MHz frequency MTN secured from Visafone when it acquired the company. MTN wants to have 1,500 LTE sites transmitted with fibre optics before the end of the year.
MTN CEO, Ferdinand Moolman, also disclosed that Visafone subscribers will be migrated onto the MTN network so they can clean up their frequency and launch the LTE services. MTN is yet to unveil the cities for the service roll out.
In Ghana, MTN is making moves to roll out LTE services and it is partnering with Ericsson to install its multi-standard radio solution which supports GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA, and LTE. The solution supports cost-effective deployment, along with capacity and functionality evolution.
Ebenezer Twum Asante, CEO, MTN Ghana, says: “MTN Ghana is happy to roll out its LTE services. Our customers are looking for world-class data access that is capable of meeting all their unique connectivity requirements and we are excited at the opportunity to provide them this latest technology.”
Ignacio Gelso, Country Manager, Ericsson Ghana, says: “As a global LTE leader, we are excited by the opportunities for inclusion and empowerment that connectivity brings to Africa and Ghana. There is a growing recognition among operators of the need to deploy 4G/LTE to keep their mobile broadband offerings competitive. Ericsson’s technology leadership makes us a trusted transformation partner for operators exploring the possibilities of the Networked Society.”