Telkom SA to showcase ‘4.5G’ technology next week

South African operator Telkom has deployed what it claims is ‘South Africa’s first LTE three-downlink component carrier (3 CC DL) network’ in Fancourt (George), located in the Western Cape province. The operator will demonstrate the ‘4.5G’ technology – capable of delivering maximum download speeds of 260Mbps – at its annual Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (Satnac), which will take place next week. Alphonzo Samuels, managing director of Telkom’s Openserve division and chairman of Satnac, said that the deployed network ‘is a commercially live, carrier-aggregated 3G and LTE network supporting newer generation commercially available devices’, while Telkom CEO for consumer retail Attila Vitai added that the technology will remain in operation at Fancourt after the conference.