18 December 2023

MediaTek, Digit and Vodacom have partnered to bring affordable, smart connectivity to tens of millions of Africans.

MediaTek has collaborated with device maker Digit to offer affordable 4G/LTE smartphones to Vodacom customers in South Africa, Egypt, and Tanzania, who are still using 2G devices.

The Digit4G Energy smartphone is powered by the MediaTek MT6739, a feature-rich smartphone system on a chip (SoC). Digit is leveraging the SoC to create a smartphone that delivers the DigitOS experience, 4G connectivity, front and back cameras, a touchscreen plus keyboard combo, preloaded apps such as WhatsApp, TikTok and Facebook, and an app store.

“Digit4G Energy is a unique combination of touch screen with keyboard, operating on DigitOS that ensures uninterrupted connectivity with advanced features like VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Hotspot and Bluetooth. Together with Vodacom, Digit will work towards making affordable 4G Phones available for all,” said Abdul Rehman Mahmood, CEO of Digit.

According to Vodacom, some 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa don’t have a smartphone –including 90 million Vodacom subscribers. Thus, Vodacom Group is working to create a value chain to drive migration of 2G and 3G users to 4G devices and ensure unconnected customers can get the opportunity to participate in the digital world.