Rain has launched a commercial 5G wireless home broadband service, becoming the first telecommunications operator in South Africa to do so.

The company has started rolling out the service, offering uncapped Internet access for R1 000/month, to selected areas where the company has network coverage.

The fixed-wireless 5G service is aimed at home broadband users and is only available in certain areas in Johannesburg and Pretoria for now.

“During 2019 and 2020, coverage will expand to Cape Town, Durban and other major metros,” it said.

During 2019 and 2020, coverage will expand to Cape Town, Durban and other major metros

In a statement, Rain chief marketing officer Khaya Dlanga said: “Selected customers in Rain’s 5G coverage area have been invited to be the first to purchase ultra-fast 5G”.

The service is meant as an alternative to ADSL, fibre and fixed-LTE offerings. “In the next couple of weeks, Rain will open up the offer to all homes and small businesses within the coverage area of Johannesburg and Tshwane,” Dlanga said.

“Rain 5G for home offers unlimited ultra-fast Internet. You will get speeds of up to 700Mbit/s,” according to the company’s website. Dlanga said real-world speeds are likely to be at least 200Mbit/s.

“Your state-of-the-art 5G home router will connect all your family’s devices with the latest Wi-Fi (technology), allowing everyone to stream as much as they like without worrying about data usage.”

‘Optimistic’

Rain has built its 5G network using technology from China’s Huawei atop its spectrum allocation in the 3.6GHz radio frequency spectrum band.

“Rain is very optimistic about the business prospects of South Africa’s 5G network and will continue to invest more in 5G networks and better serve users,” said Rain CEO Willem Roos in a statement in February.

South Africa’s more established mobile operators, including Vodacom and MTN, are unable to launch 5G services until they get access to more spectrum from communications regulator Icasa. — © 2019 NewsCentral Media