Liquid Telecom SA planning to launch 5G in early 2020

Liquid Telecom South Africa has confirmed its plans to launch a 5G wholesale network in early 2020, after inking an agreement with Vodacom to utilise Liquid’s 3.5GHz spectrum in December 2019, TechCentral writes. Liquid said in a press release: ‘Available from early 2020 in all major South African cities, this fifth-generation of mobile internet connectivity will enable wholesale operators to create innovative, ultrafast and scalable digital services for their customers.’ Liquid has 56MHz of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band; the only other operators with access to the band are Telkom and Rain. While Rain launched a commercial fixed-wireless 5G network in September 2019, Telkom is yet to reveal its plans regarding the technology.