Rain is a mobile data-only network that is slowly gaining traction as a popular internet service provider in South Africa. The company first launched its services in 2019, providing parts of Johannesburg and Tshwane with advanced 5G coverage. Skipping many major cities, including Durban and East London, this 5G provider recently expanded its offerings to Potchefstroom, a town in the Northwest province.
This launch follows Rain’s announcement in May that it planned to cover 5,000 new households with 5G each day for the remainder of 2021. This ambitious rollout target indicates that the internet service provider will add over 1 million South African households to its 5G coverage before the year is over.
Since then, Rain has continued with its rollout plan in Cape Town and now provides an average of 3 million households with 5G.
However, Durban is still waiting for access to this service, and it came as a surprise that the smaller town of Potchefstroom was the ISP’s next focus. According to Rain’s initial plan, 5G was expected to make its way to Durban in 2020, but this did not happen.
Rain offers a 5G service that includes uncapped data with average speeds of 200Mbps for as little as R1 000 per month. It also provides consumers with an alternative to fixed broadband solutions and will allow subscribers to continue with uploads and downloads whilst on the go.
This new technology should help to strengthen KZN’s infrastructure as businessmen try to find balance in a flailing economy.