5G South Africa: Are you covered?

5G is the network of the future and it's slowly making its way across South Africa. 

Three major networks have rolled-out their 5G offering in selected areas, mostly in the big metropoles with more expected to follow as 5G adoption makes it worthwhile to set-up in different areas. 

As adoption of 5G-enabled phones grow, there will be more demand for the networks that can support them and vice-versa. 

If you're a keen early adopter, checking out who is offering coverage where and weighing up which network to go with is probably already on your to-do list. 

If you're not quite that enthusiastic but are still interested, keep an eye on our list to find out if you are covered. 

MTN 

MTN is the most recent addition to the list, with their network launching in June 2020. 

Their coverage area is very small, down the only a few neighbourhoods. It was also interesting as it was not the city centres but rather populated neighbourhoods that were chosen for the launch. 

Find out if your street is covered here.

Vodacom 

Vodacom launched itself as the "first 5G network" to go live in Africa. While Rain had beat them to the punch overall, they were the first to launch a mobile 5G network and to have significant and valuable coverage. 

Still calling themselves the fastest, Vodacom does have better coverage than its competitors, though this could change depending on how future expansion happens.

Find out if your street is covered here.

Rain

Rain may have been officially the first 5G network in South Africa, although not for mobile, but it has been quickly overshadowed by the bigger networks offerings.

To differentiate itself, it became the  first to launch a standalone 5G network, and still holds the title as the only network to have stand alone in the country. 

While still not a mobile 5G network, Rain's partnership with Huawei means their 5G router and network offerings are worthwhile.