5G technology only from 2026
According to the managing director of Telecom, 5G services will not be available in the Otjozondjupa and Omaheke regions until 2026, saying that the existing 4G and 4.5G services are sufficient for commercial use at this stage.
Telecom Namibia plans to test the fastest mobile network capacity 5G in the Otjozondjupa and Omaheke regions next year, before offering commercial 5G services “in selected areas” as from 2026.Telecom Namibia Managing Director Stanley Shanapinda made this announcement on Tuesday during an online platform offered by the Ministry of Information (MICT) in the Government Information Centre (GIC).
"By 2026, we want to introduce commercial 5G services to selected areas to offer higher (data) speeds, lower latency and higher (data) capacity," said Shanapinda.
"From 2025, we will start test rollouts in Otjozondjupa and Omaheke and will meet CRAN requirements as a precursor to the large-scale rollout of 5G.
"Although we have not yet started testing in the two regions, we expect to start these next year and to introduce commercial 5G services in selected areas around 2026," he said.
For private individuals and households, the existing 4G and soon-to-be-available 4.5G technology should be sufficient, said Shanapinda. "We are currently upgrading our core network infrastructure to support the new technology by upgrading the existing infrastructure to 4G and 4.5G networks."
This is intended to ensure seamless connectivity for customers, he added.
4G and 4.5G networks offer excellent coverage and speeds to both residential and small business customers. "While 5G is primarily designed for industrial applications, 4G and 4.5G is more than sufficient for most everyday needs," he said.
Telecom also wants to replace existing copper lines with fibre optic cable to improve service quality and address the ongoing problem of copper theft. The transition to fibre optic is intended to offer customers higher speeds and better, more reliable connectivity. Copper cables are currently being replaced with fibre optic cables in Wanaheda in Windhoek, as well as in Swakopmund and Ongwediva.