The operator group reports progress in Austria, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
A1 Telekom Austria Group already provides 3.8 million Austrians with 5G, having activated more than 1,000 sites this year, in urban and rural areas.
It also runa Austria’s largest fibre network of more than 61,000km, and describes the combination of the two as 5Giganet.
Nationwide
A1 Group’s CEO, Thomas Arnoldner, said, “Only with nationwide, high-quality access to digital media, services and business models can the full potential of digitalization in Austria be unleashed.
“As a company, we currently bear even more responsibility, because the digital infrastructure, in which we invest around €450 million annually in Austria alone, is the basis for future growth, greater innovative strength and new prospects in rural areas.
“This secures jobs and brings competitive advantages. With currently around 1,500 5G sites, we are already providing 3.8 million Austrians with 5G and are…making great steps toward our goal of providing Austria with nationwide 5G coverage by 2023”.
Slovenia
A1 Group also just spent €42.4 million on spectrum in Slovenia – 2×10 MHz in 700 MHz, 1×40 MHz in 1.4 GHz, 2×15 MHz in 2.1 GHz, 1×100 MHz in 3.6 GHz and 1×400 MHz in 26 GHz.
The frequencies are valid for 15 years. The A1 Telekom Austria Group will finance the spectrum acquisition from current cash flow.
In Bulgaria
A1 Bulgaria paid €2.4 million for “the main” 5G licence in the 3.6GHz spectrum in a tender organized by the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC).
The operator offered the first 5G mobile tariff in the country a week after it won the tender.
Covid is a spur
Alejandro Plater, COO of A1 Telekom Austria Group, commented, “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”.