On 5G ‘Journey’, Opportunity at Every Turn for Balkan Economies

In the Balkans, Slovenia is ahead of the rest, with Telekom, the country's leading provider of ICT services, having already launched the first 5G mobile network in July this year. Slovenia is now one of 18 of the European Union's 27 members with a 5G commercial network.

Bericic said the road to launch was long and complex, requiring advanced network technology and testing of the whole network chain - antennae systems, base stations, transfer systems, aggregation and core networks, services and terminal equipment. But the benefits are huge, he said.

"This evolutionarily upgrade allows users to achieve higher data transfer speeds than on the LTE/4G, while the full potential of 5G technology will become available after additional frequency bands are awarded," Bericic told BIRN.

Various stages of rollout

Illustration. Photo: Unspash/James Yarema

Wireless connectivity experts say the Balkan region stands to benefit most from the reliable connectivity, infrastructure and services that 5G technology offers.

"The most important feature of 5G is that it is a flexible connectivity platform, capable to offer wide range of connections, from high-speed video streaming to low-latency tactile interactions with robots," said Popovski.

At the end of November, Austrian mobile operator A1 launched a 5G network covering central areas, residential districts and business locations in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. In Croatia, A1 expects to make 5G available this month to more than 70 towns and cities.

Elsewhere in the region, Serbian mobile operator Telenor last year rolled out the first 5G base station in the country, in the Science Technology Park in the capital, Belgrade, and making it available for use...

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