Johannesburg, 26 Oct 2026
MTN South Africa, working with Huawei, has successfully led a proof of concept and industry's first commercial network validation of an advanced microwave spectrum-reuse capability designed to expand capacity while making more efficient use of existing licensed spectrum, using the Co-Channel Interference Cancellation (CCIC) microwave solution.
The new capability enables more efficient reuse of microwave spectrum and helps MTN expand capacity at locations where additional spectrum may be limited or difficult to secure.
The solution demonstrated significant improvement in spectrum-use efficiency while maintaining network performance, enabling rapid capacity expansion and supporting the accelerated rollout of 5G services.
MTN South Africa is one of the country's leading mobile communications and digital services providers, while MTN Group is the largest mobile operator on the African continent.
As a pioneer in expanding commercial 5G services across Africa, MTN South Africa faces increasing demand for high-capacity microwave backhaul networks. This has created a pressing need to maximize the utilization of its licensed spectrum resources while controlling spectrum-related costs.
Traditionally, acquiring additional spectrum is expensive and often involves lengthy regulatory processes. In addition, heavy interference in lower frequency bands can significantly impact backhaul service quality.
At major hub sites, further network expansion is frequently constrained by limited spectrum availability and the difficulty of securing new spectrum assignments.
To address these challenges, MTN South Africa introduced Huawei's innovative CCIC solution. The technology continuously analyzes co-channel interference characteristics in real time and generates compensation signals to suppress interference effectively.
By overcoming the physical isolation limitations of traditional microwave systems. The solution enables more efficient reuse of existing microwave spectrum, supporting capacity expansion in locations where spectrum availability is constrained. In the deployed configuration, the solution demonstrated a significant improvement in spectrum reuse efficiency.
This advancement enables operators to reuse existing frequencies for both capacity growth and directional expansion, while optimizing spectrum resources and reducing operational expenditure.
Rodney Reddy, senior manager: Transmission Planning, Thivashen Naidoo, Senior Specialist: Transmission, and Reem Al Saba, Senior Specialist: Transmission at MTN South Africa, said: "CCIC solution directly addresses spectrum scarcity challenges.
"It improves spectral efficiency and optimal use of spectrum during capacity expansion and removes spectrum limitations that have historically constrained hub site growth. Thus, enabling maximum use of our existing spectrum assets while improving operational efficiency and lowering spectrum-related costs."
Nkosinathi Nzima, general manager: Transport and OSS Tools at MTN Group said: “This milestone demonstrates how targeted innovation can help us efficiently expand capacity in constrained areas, improve value from licensed spectrum assets, and build scalable, future-ready transmission network. This deployment supports our broader strategic goal of expanding network capacity while maintaining investment discipline and operational efficiency.”
Alex Xing, Vice President of Huawei's MTN Group Key Account Department, commented: "Huawei remains committed to continuous innovation in microwave transmission technologies. The CCIC solution significantly enhances spectrum efficiency, improves network performance, and optimizes total cost of ownership for operators. By enabling higher-capacity and more efficient microwave backhaul networks, the solution helps accelerate the large-scale deployment of 5G services."
The successful deployment demonstrates the potential of CCIC technology to help operators maximize the value of existing spectrum assets, expand network capacity more efficiently, and support the growing demands of 5G connectivity.
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