Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, November 12 (Xinhua)-- French telecom group Orange launched Africa's first 5G network in Botswana on Friday. According to reports, Orange's 5G network will cover 30 per cent of the country's population, including those living in Gaborone and Francistown, the two largest cities.

The company said it would expand its coverage to other cities early next year.

It is worth mentioning that although most Chinese users have enjoyed the convenience of 5G, and 5G mobile phones are becoming more and more cheap, most Africans still cannot afford it.

Therefore, Orange pays more attention to 5G itself than to provide convenience for users. After all, the population density in Africa is low, and it is not economical to deploy infrastructure such as optical fiber and base stations there.

"for us, the main usage scenario is fixed wireless access, which means [users] can surf the Internet at home," said Nemaiga, chief executive of Orange Botswana.

CTOnews.com learned that Orange currently operates in 18 countries in Africa and the Middle East, accounting for more than 60% of the company's total mobile customers, with revenue of 6.4 billion euros (about 46.912 billion yuan), compared with more than 44 million 4G users in the region.

Jerome Enrique, chief executive of Orange Middle East and Africa, said the company aims to launch a 5G network in about six countries by 2023, most likely starting in Jordan.

"We have reached an agreement with the government on the conditions for the launch of 5G in Jordan. C ô te d'Ivoire and Senegal are likely to follow suit, but we are still discussing regulatory conditions."

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