Wi-Tribe will be launching 4.5G service for the first time in Pakistan, with the target to be operational in five cities by June 2017.

According to private news channels, Wi-Tribe has announced a $15 million contract, forming a strategic partnership with China's Huawei, for the advanced up-gradation of LTE services in at least five cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, and Faisalabad.

4.5G provides better performance than 4G systems and is used as an interim step towards the deployment of full 5G capability.

The technology will initially be tested at the head office in Islamabad before it becomes fully operational across the city.

This is the first time that LTE-A (5G) is being inducted in Pakistan's broadband-saturated market. This is also the first time that 3.5 Ghz is being deployed in South Asia and the Middle East.

LTE-A equipment is capable of delivering data at the rate of 1GB per second, compared to LTE, which can only deliver as much as 300MB per second.

However, Wi-Tribe will provide speeds of 100Mbps per connection. By the end of 2018, these will be raised to 200Mbps.

The service provider plans to deliver 400Mbps to its customers by 2019.

Wi-Tribe was launched in Pakistan in 2009 and provides telecommunication services in five cities.