APA – Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) – Cote d’Ivoire, the host country of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AfCON 2023), is planning to roll out 5G technology to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to users during this major African football event.
“On the occasion of the African Football Championship (CAN) in Cote d’Ivoire in January 2024, we plan to launch 5G,” declared Georges M’Bra, Director General of the Digital Economy, at a regional telecoms workshop in Abidjan on Tuesday 19 September 2023.
Georges M’Bra was speaking at the 9th African regional workshop of Study Group 13 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on the theme “Standardisation of future networks and emerging network technologies: Prospects for Africa.”
This session, which runs from 19 to 22 September 2023, is being held in conjunction with the ITU Study Group 2 Africa Regional Group workshop on “Numbering for the Internet of Things and machine-to-machine communications.”
On 22 December 2021, the Ivorian government adopted the roadmap for the deployment of 5G in Cote d’Ivoire. This roadmap aims to plan the deployment of 5G, taking into account the various technical challenges involved.
The 5th generation of mobile networks, known as 5G, involves major technological advances, such as the deployment of artificial intelligence. Today, it is the catalyst of the information society and the technological foundation of the entire customer experience.
MTN Cote d’Ivoire, the telephone operator, has already carried out successful pilot tests of 5G technology, but is awaiting the official launch by the Ministry of Communication and the Digital Economy before rolling out the technology.
The mobile phone penetration rate in Cote d’Ivoire has risen from 78 percent in 2012 to 162 percent by the end of 2022, representing an average growth rate of more than 8 percent per year, according to data from the Telecoms Regulatory Authority/TIC (ARTCI).
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