MTN Uganda showcases 5.5G, eyes digital future

KAMPALA, Uganda— MTN Uganda has showcased 5.5G technology, becoming the first in East Africa to demonstrate the advanced network capability and signaling a continued push for digital transformation in the country. The demonstration at the company’s Kampala headquarters comes five years after MTN Uganda first introduced 5G to the region.

The 5.5G showcase offered a glimpse into a future of enhanced connectivity, ultra-low latency, and intelligent digital systems. The move aligns with MTN Uganda’s “Ambition 2025” strategy, aimed at accelerating digital inclusion and supporting national innovation.

Philip Katongole, Radio Planning Manager at MTN Uganda, described 5.5G as a significant leap beyond 5G, offering “bolder digital inclusion” for customers.

“We’re now talking about real-time broadband communication, ultra-low latency of less than 1 millisecond, and the ability to connect over a million devices per square kilometer,” Katongole said. He added that this could enable possibilities for smart cities, driverless cars, AI-generated content and advanced industrial automation.

Known as 5G-Advanced, 5.5G is an evolution of current 5G technology, designed to improve network performance and functionality. It serves as an intermediate phase before 6G networks and is ten times faster than 5G.

While 5.5G is already being commercialized in some global markets like China, MTN Uganda’s demonstration places it among a limited number of telecoms preparing for deployment, only two years after launching 5G locally.

Bibian Amito, a Graduate Trainee in Radio Planning at MTN Uganda, stated that with existing infrastructure and strategy, the 5.5G rollout is not expected to take as long as the 5G deployment. “Internally, the engineering team is ready. We’re just aligning timelines, budgets, and commercial readiness,” Amito said.

The 5.5G network upgrade is part of a broader strategy across the MTN Group. MTN Uganda is contributing through a unified cloud core modernization plan, fiber network expansion, and extensive infrastructure upgrades nationwide. The company recently launched a new fiber route and is upgrading its transport network to support an anticipated surge in data demand, with access sites scaling to 100 Gbps and backbone links reaching 400 Gbps.

Katongole noted that significant work has been underway since the global standardization of 5.5G in 2023, including upgrades to access and transport networks and cloud infrastructure modernization, all laying the foundation for a commercial launch “in the near future.”

Thomas Motlepa, MTN Uganda’s Chief Technical and Information Officer, credited the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) for its support, stating that the successful 5.5G Proof of Concept was made possible by the UCC’s “consistent support and forward-thinking regulatory environment.”

Beyond the technical aspects, 5.5G deployment is seen as aligning with Uganda’s national agenda for digital transformation and economic modernization. It has implications for sectors such as agriculture, education, healthcare and manufacturing, promising higher productivity and data-driven solutions.