Vodacom South Africa has tested SuperUpload, a 5G Advanced technology capable of delivering uplink speeds of up to 254 Mbps, marking the first demonstration of this capability on the African continent. The milestone strengthens the company’s position in the country’s 5G landscape, particularly in terms of speed and network performance.
The technology allows mobile users to experience upload speeds comparable to high-end fibre-to-the-home connections. With SuperUpload, customers can perform tasks such as cloud backups, transferring large files and participating in high-quality video calls directly from mobile devices without relying on fixed broadband connections.
The development highlights a major improvement compared with current mobile speed benchmarks across Africa. According to the January 2026 Speedtest Global Index from Ookla, the fastest median mobile internet speed on the continent was recorded in Morocco at 124.32 Mbps. Vodacom’s SuperUpload demonstration effectively doubles that figure.
SuperUpload works by enabling a 5G smartphone to transmit data through two separate network channels simultaneously, automatically selecting the faster option based on network conditions. As signal strength or congestion levels change, the device can shift between channels, ensuring faster uploads, smoother video calls and more reliable performance when sending large files or working on cloud-based applications.
Beverly Ngwenya, Technology Director at Vodacom South Africa, said: “We invest significantly in the modernisation of our network to the benefit our customers. The successful testing of SuperUpload means we can continue providing a superior 5G network experience, as the investment in our network continues to pay off. This is not just faster uploads, it represents a fundamental shift in what mobile connectivity makes possible.”
While early 5G development focused largely on improving download speeds, the next phase of the technology is increasingly centred on uplink performance—how quickly users can send data. This capability is becoming essential for modern applications including video conferencing, cloud gaming and artificial intelligence-driven tools that require consistent and reliable upload capacity.
Vodacom said SuperUpload offers several practical benefits for users, including fibre-like upload speeds on mobile networks, improved stability for video and streaming services, reduced latency for real-time communication and more consistent performance across different coverage conditions.
As 5G technology continues to evolve, Vodacom believes uplink performance will become a key factor distinguishing networks. Ngwenya added that SuperUpload enables the company’s infrastructure to support increasingly demanding digital applications with the low latency and stable performance required for seamless collaboration and communication.
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