Fifth-generation (5G) technologies are increasingly moving to the forefront as a significant enabler of digital inclusion and industrialisation in Africa and the transformation of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

In line with this, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is developing a 5G test-bed that aims to assist South Africa and the rest of the continent in developing the knowledge and skills required to leverage new 5G technologies.

The test-bed is aimed at supporting research on key technology building blocks for 5G, while supporting the development and experimentation of use cases relevant to Africa, in partnership with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, the private sector and higher education institutions.

“We want to provide practical and tested use cases for the next industrial revolution in the country,” says CSIR researcher Sabelo Dlamini.

The test-bed, to be launched later this year, seeks to provide leadership and direction on the development of next-generation networks and to ensure that Africa is able to adapt to the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The test-bed can be adopted by higher education entities, development agencies, funding agencies, State-owned enterprises and government departments, besides others.

Many ICT companies are already partnering to evolve 5G technology in South Africa.

“This year marks the most important milestone in the 5G roadmap – the launch of large-scale trials of 5G systems and technology,” says Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele, referring to several South African companies launching or planning to launch 5G trials.

MTN recently partnered with Huawei to undertake the first 5G outdoor trial in Africa, as well as teaming up with Ericsson last year to start trials on a range of 5G use cases and applications in South Africa.

Vodacom signed a memorandum of understanding with Nokia to support efforts to launch 5G by jointly conducting lab and network trials of new services and business cases using Nokia’s 5G technology.

In addition, Comsol Networks recently announced a collaboration with global technology giants Verizon and Samsung to launch 5G fixed-wireless trials in South Africa.

“[This technology] will build on the ongoing evolution of fourth-generation technology and will deliver significant technological improvements by way of enhanced mobile broadband, massive Internet of Things and mission-critical services,” he says.

However, the technology presents new challenges in the deployment of networks and the provision of services, as it pushes networks past the traditional boundaries to consumer-operated connected devices.

“While earlier network generations have been designed as general-purpose connectivity platforms with limited differentiation capabilities across use cases, the situation is changing for the definition of 5G networks,” Cwele adds.

“The 5G use cases will require network performance to increase tenfold over current levels across all network parameters, as measured by latency, throughput, reliability and scale.”

The scale of the deployment of networks of this magnitude will require significant collaboration, with investment required into the networks to increase the data capacity without significantly increasing the operating costs.

“No single entity can afford to deploy 5G networks on its own – hence, the need for collaboration between various industry stakeholders will be crucial. “Here we are talking about better collaboration between the operators, regulators and policymakers,” Cwele points out.