Nigeria struggling to deploy LTE Technology

Accoring to Afriquejet.com Nigerian mobile operators have struggled behind other African countries in the race to deploy Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, a fourth generation mobile technology network that makes the speed of the current third generation (3G) technology, a child’s play.

LTE provides high levels of spectral efficiency, network performance, high capacity and low latency. It is deployed on both GSM and CDMA technology paths.

While LTE networks have gone live in Angola, Namibia, Mauritius, South Africa, Ethiopia and Tanzania, Nigeria , Africa’s largest mobile telecoms market is yet to introduce a single commercial LTE network, despite some operators claiming to have the capacity but lack regulatory approval. Smile Communications and Starcomms have the spectrum but are yet to deploy LTE networks.

Globacom two years ago said it trialed LTE. Airtel Nigeria in December 2012 announced that that it had completed an LTE trial in Lagos with plans to conduct trials in Abuja, Port Harcourt and other cities. Airtel said data users during the trial experienced download speeds of between 32Mbps in non-ideal conditions and 37Mbps in ideal conditions, Airtel Nigeria said in a statement. Upload speeds were around 10.6Mbps.

We hope the era of  trial stops soon and the Technology becomes fully deployed in Nigeria.