Rain South Africa and Huawei are jointly accelerating the deployment of a sub-1GHz massive Mimo 5G network across South Africa, with plans to scale it to a multi-thousand-site commercial network. The move marks a major breakthrough in wireless communications and opens a new chapter in the evolution of 5G, aiming to deliver ubiquitous, high-quality 5G connectivity to consumers across the country.

Rain has already achieved large-scale deployment of sub-1GHz massive Mimo (multiple input, multiple output) in South Africa’s major cities. Commercial results show uplink coverage is enhanced by 5dB and downlink coverage by 3dB, while network capacity is increased by up to three times compared to conventional 4T4R equipment.

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The roll-out is the first large-scale commercial implementation of massive Mimo technology in sub-1GHz FDD spectrum in South Africa, overcoming one of the industry’s most significant technical challenges. While massive Mimo has become the foundation of high-capacity 5G networks, extending the technology to low-band FDD spectrum has required years of innovation in antenna design, radio architecture, signal processing and interference management.

Working closely together, Huawei and rain have transformed this innovation into a live network. For the first time, low-band spectrum can deliver the wide-area coverage and deep indoor penetration traditionally associated with lower frequencies, while simultaneously providing the substantial capacity and spectral efficiency gains of massive Mimo.

This breakthrough enables operators to improve the user experience significantly, increase network capacity, expand 5G coverage and make more efficient use of valuable low-band spectrum. More importantly, it establishes a new blueprint for the future evolution of 5G networks worldwide.

‘More than technology’

The deployment continues Huawei’s long history of advancing wireless technology through close collaboration with leading operators. By working with innovation partners like rain, Huawei is accelerating the commercial adoption of next-generation technologies that address real-world network challenges and create greater value for operators and consumers alike.

“From launching South Africa’s first commercial 5G network in 2019 to today’s deployment, our partnership with Huawei has always been about more than technology. It’s about solving difficult problems, driving innovation and building the networks that will power the future,” said rain South Africa CEO Conrad Leigh.

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Fang Xiang, Huawei corporate vice president and president of wireless network solutions, said: “This is more than a network upgrade. It is a global technology milestone. The deployment of sub-1GHz massive Mimo 5G sites demonstrates leading network competitiveness in spectral efficiency, coverage, latency, uplink performance and energy efficiency. This provides strong support for rain as it looks to strengthen its advanced wireless foundation.”