A1 Telekom Austria Group, the provider of digital services and communications solutions, said it is accelerating its 5G rollout plans across Central and Eastern Europe.
Besides already supplying 3.8 million Austrians with 5G, the Vienna Stock Exchange-listed company has acquired spectrum in Slovenia for €42.4 million and has been awarded the main 5G licence in Bulgaria in the 3.6 GHz spectrum for €2.4 million.
While explaining the strategic moves in CEE, Alejandro Plater, COO of A1 Telekom Austria Group, said: “The potential of digital technologies for sustainable positive future opportunities continues to be the focus of the A1 Telekom Austria Group’s corporate strategy. The enormous importance of system-critical digital infrastructure such as that of the A1 Telekom Austria Group for economic and social development has not only been known since the COVID-19 crisis. All the more reason for us to push ahead with our 5G rollout plans, to guarantee future-proof top-class network infrastructure.”
Since the beginning of the year alone, A1 has put around 1,000 new 5G sites into operation, bringing ultra-fast mobile broadband to both major cities and rural regions. Combined with Austria's largest fiber network, which already extends over more than 61,000 kilometers, the A1 "5Giganet" combines the best broadband technologies.
Meanwhile, A1 Slovenia has acquired spectrum in several bands: 2x10 MHz in 700 MHz, 1x40 MHz in 1.4 GHz, 2x15 MHz in 2.1 GHz, 1x100 MHz in 3.6 GHz, and 1x400 MHz in 26 GHz for EUR 42.4 million. The frequencies are valid for 15 years. The A1 Telekom Austria Group will finance the spectrum acquisition from current cash flow.
“The rollout and further development of the powerful A1 network will support the digitalization of Slovenian society, which will benefit in the future from exciting new services such as autonomous driving, e-health, cloud gaming and the development towards Industry 4.0," said Dejan Turk, CEO Cluster Serbia & Slovenia.
In the meantime, A1 Bulgaria has been awarded the main 5G license in the 3.6 GHz spectrum in a tender organized by the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC). The company will pay 2.4 million as an initial investment for the spectrum acquisition.
