MTN South Africa and US-based Pivotal Commware have completed joint field trials showing how 5G millimetre-wave (mmWave) repeater technology can significantly expand broadband reach for fixed-wireless access customers.
The trials, initiated in 2024, tested Pivotal’s “Pivot” 5G repeaters at three locations in Vanderbijlpark in Gauteng and Seshego in Limpopo. The goal was to demonstrate how mmWave spectrum — which offers substantially larger bandwidth than traditional sub-6GHz 5G bands — can serve as a dedicated high-capacity layer for FWA.
A key challenge for mmWave is that signals struggle to penetrate or travel around obstacles such as foliage, dense housing and high-rise structures. The repeaters address this by redirecting and strengthening signals without requiring new macro cell tower builds.
The results were striking. Without the repeaters, equipment at test premises connected only to slower 4G networks or detected very weak 5G signals. With the repeaters active, download speeds were between two and five times faster, MTN said.
“These field trials bring us closer to improving broadband availability in communities with limited access,” said Zoltan Miklos, GM for access planning and architecture at MTN South Africa, in a statement on Wednesday.
5G FWA has become a key pillar of broadband delivery in South Africa, particularly in areas where fibre deployment is limited or commercially unviable. But the rapid growth in fixed-wireless traffic is placing pressure on sub-6GHz spectrum, which must support both mobile users and fixed-wireless households. mmWave could help relieve that pressure by offloading fixed-wireless traffic onto dedicated high-bandwidth spectrum.
Trial licences
MTN said it obtained trial licences from communications regulator Icasa for the tests. Advanced “WaveScape” planning software was used to determine optimal equipment placement, allowing the teams to maximise the number of serviceable homes while minimising new infrastructure.
Read: A third of the world is now connected to 5G
“These results show that Pivot 5G repeaters can successfully work around obstacles like buildings and trees, helping 5G signals reach places that were previously hard to connect,” said Brian Deutsch, CEO of Pivotal Commware. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
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