Nigerian operator Globacom, which sells services under the Glo Mobile brand, this week launched the African continent’s first LTE network.

Available in Lagos, the LTE network promises to deliver data speeds in excess of 100Mbps on the uplink and 50Mbps on the downlink, making possible such services as high definition video streaming, gaming and mobile health services as well as major improvements in capacity and reductions in latency.

Globacom has not yet revealed any details on device availability or tariffs for the 4G service. The company holds second place in the Nigerian market, with a total of 19 million subscribers, around half as many as MTN, which leads the pack with 38 million users. Bharti Airtel is the only other operator that poses any real threat, with 14.8 million subscribers at the end of 2010.