Mobile operator MTN Uganda plans to deploy a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network this year, a move that could spark off a race among nations to further roll out the offering in East Africa.
In a statement, MTN Uganda has announced a network infrastructure upgrade plan to provide its customers with LTE access and speeds of up to 100Mbps. In 2013, MTN Uganda says it plans to invest $70 million in its network.
The mobile operator, though, has not disclosed when its Ugandan LTE network is expected to be up and running.
The first country to have an LTE network in East Africa is Tanzania, where Smile Telecoms Holdings and Telesis Tanzania unveiled their services in that country last year.
But the race to be the next nation to roll out a LTE network in East Africa could heat up as Kenya also plans to roll out high-speed LTE mobile networks this year.
Bitange Ndemo, permanent secretary for Kenya’s ministry of information and communication, told Reuters last year that all Kenyan mobile phone firms had signed up to the country’s LTE project.
"We need to have it (the network) before the next elections (due in March 2013). That is what we are targeting," he said.
Share