Smile Communications in Nigeria has announced the launch of a 4G/LTE network on 800MHz spectrum in Ibadan and Lagos, with Ericsson as the primary vendor.
Commercial services were piloted in the two cities in February, making Smile the first to launch LTE technology in West Africa, with more locations across the country to follow soon.
Ericsson is the primary vendor for the LTE radio network, leveraging the multi-standard RBS 6000 family of base stations and the compact and fully integrated Antenna Integrated Radio (AIR) Antennas, deployed in West Africa for the first time.
The companies have signed a three-year network deployment agreement to develop over 1,100 LTE sites across the country, with Ericsson responsible for the project management, system integration, interoperability testing, network design and implementation.
Tom Allen, Smile Group chief operating officer (COO), said: “At Smile Communications, we seek to deliver affordable, high-quality and easy-to-use broadband internet access and communications services to our customers and in Nigeria, Ericsson is helping us do this. With successful commercial operations since 2013, we are very excited to formally announce today the commencement of our services and the beginning of a cross-country roll-out. We are starting in Lagos and will lay our footprints in other major cities across the country shortly.”
Magnus Mchunguzi, vice president of Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa, said: “With mobile data traffic estimated to grow 17 times by 2019 and Nigeria currently holding the highest number of mobile subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa, superior network performance is imperative. As a global HSPA and LTE leader, we are committed to partnering with Smile Communications in meeting this growing demand for enriched broadband experience.”
