MTN SA is running a pilot of its high-speed long-term evolution (LTE) network in Cape Town this week. The company has been testing LTE using approximately 100 towers in Gauteng since late August and has reallocated part of its 1,8GHz spectrum allocation to do so.

MTN will unveil the pilot at Cape Town’s International Convention Centre during the 2011 AfricaCom conference, which kicks off on Wednesday. The pilot is being run in conjunction with Ericsson.

Lambo Kanagaratnam, MTN SA’s chief technology officer, says it was “only natural that a big metropolitan city like Cape Town should enjoy the benefits of this new generation network”.

The LTE network will only be available at the convention centre for the duration of AfricaCom, which runs between 9 and 10 November. MTN says it expects to commercially roll out a commercial, national LTE network within the next two to three years but only once the regulator allocates the spectrum it requires.

There is no guarantee that MTN will be allocated the hotly contested spectrum in the 2,6GHz range that operators are looking at for LTE networks. The company is, however, making a strong case as to why it should be considered one of the preferred recipients when the spectrum is allocated. — Staff reporter, TechCentral