en.Wedoany.com Reported - South African mobile operator rain has recently launched a large-scale expansion of its low-frequency 5G network in partnership with China's Huawei, planning to deploy thousands of commercial sites using Massive MIMO technology in sub-1GHz bands across South Africa. The network has already achieved a certain scale of deployment in major cities, and subsequent construction will continue to expand low-frequency 5G coverage while enhancing network capacity in indoor, suburban, and long-distance scenarios.
This project primarily involves upgrading existing mobile communication sites and adding new wireless equipment. rain will deploy Massive MIMO antennas and radio frequency systems in FDD bands below 1GHz, enabling a single site to serve multiple users simultaneously through more transceiver channels. Both parties have not yet disclosed the total number of sites, provincial construction lists, or overall completion timeline, only clearly stating that the commercial network will be expanded to a scale of "thousands of sites."
Low-frequency spectrum typically offers longer coverage distances and better wall penetration capabilities, but traditional low-frequency base stations have limitations in network capacity. Massive MIMO has historically been deployed more in mid-to-high frequency 5G networks; introducing it into low-frequency FDD networks requires re-addressing issues such as antenna size, RF architecture, signal processing, and interference control. This construction by rain and Huawei combines low-frequency coverage capabilities with multi-antenna capacity enhancements to improve access conditions for home broadband and mobile data services.
Currently, the sites already in operation are mainly distributed across South Africa's major cities. According to commercial network test results released by both parties, compared to traditional 4T4R equipment, the upgraded sites show an uplink coverage improvement of approximately 5dB, downlink coverage improvement of about 3dB, and network capacity increased by up to three times. These figures are based on live network results, but neither party has disclosed the test cities, number of sites, or average capacity gains across different scenarios.
For rain, the low-frequency 5G expansion is not only aimed at increasing mobile network coverage but also supports its wireless home broadband business. Lower frequency bands can cover larger areas and more easily penetrate building interiors, reducing the need to add multiple sites in some areas to improve indoor signals; Massive MIMO is used to supplement the capacity of low-frequency networks, enabling the same base station to handle more connections from home routers and mobile terminals.
South Africa's rain has been collaborating with China's Huawei on 5G network construction since 2019, and is now shifting its network focus from initial deployment in major cities to larger-scale low-frequency coverage. Upon completion of this expansion of thousands of sites, rain's 5G network will form a wireless access system supported by different frequency bands: mid-to-high frequency bands meeting capacity demands in traffic-dense areas, and low-frequency bands handling wide-area coverage and indoor connections.
At this stage, both parties have not yet disclosed the project investment amount, base station equipment models, construction contractors, or phased rollout plans. Therefore, this project should be described as an ongoing nationwide network expansion, not as thousands of sites already fully completed. What can be confirmed is that low-frequency Massive MIMO equipment has already entered commercial network operation in South Africa's major cities, and will continue to expand to a scale of thousands of sites.
