MTN South Africa says it has reached peak download speeds of above 10Gbit/s — specifically, 10.35Gbit/s — in a trial of 5G-Advanced technology in the upper 6GHz band, spectrum that South Africa has earmarked for mobile networks but not yet handed to any operator.
The trial, at MTN’s headquarters in Johannesburg, ran under a temporary radio licence from communications regulator Icasa, the operator said on Tuesday. MTN claims it is Africa’s first 5G-Advanced trial in the band. 5G-Advanced is an upgrade to the 5G standard, and is seen as a stepping stone to the 6G networks expected around the end of the decade.
Working with equipment supplier Huawei, MTN used 400MHz of spectrum, a standalone 5G core network and wideband antennas with beamforming, which focuses radio signals on individual devices.
The 10.35Gbit/s figure is a peak achieved in controlled conditions at a single site, not a speed customers should expect. But the test doubles as a public pitch for spectrum that mobile operators and Wi-Fi advocates have fought over for years.
In July, the National Radio Frequency Plan 2026, gazetted by Icasa after approval by communications minister Solly Malatsi, identified the entire upper 6GHz band – 700MHz of mid-band spectrum, from 6.425GHz to 7.125GHz – for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), the designation for mobile broadband technologies such as 5G and, in time, 6G.
MTN says the plan “formally allocated” the band to mobile services. But an IMT identification is not a reservation: under international radio regulations, it does not prevent other uses of the band, including Wi-Fi, or establish priority. And no spectrum in the band has been assigned to any operator yet, as MTN acknowledges.
Win for mobile operators
The decision was a win for mobile operators and the GSMA industry body, which lobbied for the band to be kept for licensed mobile use. Wi-Fi advocates, including the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, had urged Icasa to open it to licence-exempt use instead. Icasa had already opened the lower 6GHz band, from 5.925GHz to 6.425GHz, to Wi-Fi in 2023.
MTN says the band could deliver fibre-like home broadband over the air through fixed-wireless access, and add capacity in busy places such as stadiums, shopping centres and transport hubs. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
