South African mobile network minnow, 8ta, has succumbed to pressure by announcing its LTE trial launch, in what is fast becoming a 4G public relations war among telcos.

This is according to Steven Ambrose, managing director at Strategy Worx, reacting to Telkom-owned 8ta's announcement yesterday that it plans to launch a free trial of the next-generation broadband network. The trial is planned from 1 November 2012 to 31 March 2013, with 8ta customers in the Gauteng province able to apply to participate.

8ta is SA's newest mobile operator, having launched in 2010. According to Telkom, it recorded just over 1,1 million active mobile subscribers with a further 1,1 million classified as non-active subscribers towards the end of 2011.

Its market share of SA's total mobile subscriber base is small, as there are over 49 million connections in the country according to BuddeComm research. Vodacom dominates this market with an estimated 50% market share, according to the company.

And telcos such as Vodacom, MTN and Cell C have already announced the launch of their LTE offerings in cities such as Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban by year-end.

Ambrose notes that a trial of LTE is the next logical step for all mobile network operators in South Africa, and that it would be their main focus in years to come.

“What they have obviously decided to do is to join the LTE bidding list by announcing a trial for the next few months,” Ambrose told ITWeb Africa.

“They are trying to stake their claim to the LTE higher ground,” Ambrose explained.

He added, “8ta doesn’t want to be seen falling behind in the technological race, all the networks want to be seen to be highly technologically engaged. They all want to be seen as cutting edge.”

However, 8ta officials have refused to make further announcements of when they plan to launch LTE commercially, or what the frequencies of the 4G network could be. Other networks such as Vodacom and MTN have already publicly disclosed these details.

Nevertheless, Ambrose says that mobile networks in South Africa could have to change the frequency on which they launch LTE, as government is yet to release 4G spectrums.

“There is a big risk to everybody who gets involved in LTE right now, frequencies will change and that means that the equipment that they are using might not be the right equipment for when finally LTE launches at the correct frequencies,” he concluded.