MTN South Africa has tested a new Huawei technology that lets it reuse the same microwave spectrum more than once. The company said it was the industry’s first commercial network test of the system.
The technology is called Co-Channel Interference Cancellation, or CCIC. MTN said it helps the network add capacity at sites where extra spectrum is hard to get.
“CCIC solution directly addresses spectrum scarcity challenges,” MTN South Africa’s transmission team said. The team added that it “removes spectrum limitations that have historically constrained hub site growth.”
The statement came from Rodney Reddy, senior manager for transmission planning, with senior specialists Thivashen Naidoo and Reem Al Saba.
Microwave links carry data between mobile towers and the wider network. This part of the network is known as backhaul. MTN said demand for high-capacity backhaul is rising as it expands 5G services.
According to MTN, buying more spectrum is expensive and often means long regulatory processes. It said heavy interference in lower frequency bands can also hurt the quality of backhaul links.
The company said growth at its large hub sites is often held back by limited spectrum. New spectrum assignments for these sites can be difficult to secure, it said.
The CCIC system studies interference on a shared channel in real time. It then creates a signal that cancels out that interference. This allows two links to use the same frequency without getting in each other’s way.
MTN said the test showed better use of spectrum while network performance stayed the same. It said this allows faster capacity growth and supports a quicker 5G rollout.
The company said operators can use the same frequencies to grow capacity and to extend links in new directions. It said this also cuts operating costs.
Nkosinathi Nzima, general manager for transport and OSS tools at MTN Group, said the result showed how targeted innovation can expand capacity in crowded areas.
“This deployment supports our broader strategic goal of expanding network capacity while maintaining investment discipline and operational efficiency,” Nzima said.
Alex Xing, vice president of Huawei’s MTN Group key account department, said Huawei would keep working on new microwave transmission tools.
“By enabling higher-capacity and more efficient microwave backhaul networks, the solution helps accelerate the large-scale deployment of 5G services,” Xing said.
MTN Group is the largest mobile operator in Africa. MTN South Africa is one of the country’s main mobile and digital services providers.
Source: this article is based on reporting by MyBroadband. Image: MyBroadband. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.