Vodacom Group, a subsidiary of telecoms giant Vodafone, has launched the first commercial 4G LTE service in South Africa.

LTE, which stands for long term evolution and is a type wireless communication technology, will initially be accessible to customers via around 70 base stations in Johannesburg with other South African cities to follow in the near future.

Vodacom Group's Chief Executive Officer, Shameel Joosub, said: "Vodacom was the first network in South Africa to test 4G LTE more than two years ago, and since then we've been busy upgrading base stations and our fibre-optic transmission network in preparation for today. It is great to claim another South African first and even more pleasing that South Africa has joined an exclusive club with the fastest mobile connectivity on offer."

The firm added: "4G LTE represents a major improvement in mobile connectivity speeds and capacity. The Vodacom service has the potential to operate at more than double the speed of any existing mobile connection within the country and offers users jitter-free video, and almost instantaneous music and picture downloads."

Vodafone's share price fell 0.42% to 178.60p by mid-morning, in line with a 0.38% decline across the sector.

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