16 December 2024
Tonga now has 5G after the country’s two main mobile operators –Tonga Communications Corporation (TCC) and Digicel Tonga - commercially launched their respective 5G networks.
TCC – which offers mobile services under the U Call brand – launched its 5G network in early December in partnership with Huawei; less than a week after Digicel Tonga launched its 5G, with six sites live in Kolomotu’a, Fanga, Pili, Kolofo’ou, Ma’ufanga and Ma’ufanga Wharf.
Digicel Tonga’s 5G network achieved downlink speeds of 550-600Mbps in initial tests, although clarified that real-world speeds would likely be lower depending on the usual conditions (distance from the tower, network traffic loads, etc). Customers will automatically drop down to 4G or 3G when they are outside of 5G coverage.
A live speed test conducted by Huawei during TCC’s 5G launch registered download speeds of 854 Mbps and upload speeds of 57.2Mbps between the 5G base station and a local server, compared to 53Mbps downstream and 26.3Mbps upstream for TCC’s 4G network.
