T-Mobile, a part of Deutsche Telekom, announced the launch of 5G services — a router — in Austria. 5G will not be available on your costly 5G smartphones for the time being.
T-Mobile, which is the first 5G operator in the country, has made an investment of 57 million euros in 5G spectrum to ensure 5G coverage in Austria.
A1 Telekom Austria, the rival of T-Mobile, has selected Nokia, the second largest telecom network maker, for rolling out 5G base stations.
Andreas Bierwirth, CEO of T-Mobile Austria, said: “With 5G, mobile broadband coverage will keep up with fiber-optic network performance going forward, supplying regions where the laying of cables would be complex, slow, and expensive.”
T-Mobile will be investing a billion euros between 2018 and 2021 to guarantee that Austria has a powerful broadband infrastructure, both mobile and landline.
“We are the only European provider that’s investing in the build-out of 5G mobile and fixed-network across Austria,” Srini Gopalan, member of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management, said.
T-Mobile purchased 5G spectrum during the spectrum auction in early March 2019. T-Mobile Austria activated the first 5G base stations in all of Austria on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, primarily in rural regions. Additional 5G stations will be integrated in the mobile network over the course of the further build-out.
T-Mobile Austria will give 5G routers to friendly customers. The first 5G smartphones — which are too expensive — are expected by the end of 2019. Larger numbers of 5G-enabled smartphones and tablet PCs will likely hit the market in 2020.
T-Mobile Austria did not reveal its pricing plans. T-Mobile Austria also did not disclose the number of 5G base stations it deployed or the percentage of 5G coverage available across Austria.
T-Mobile Austria is relying on network diversity in its build-out strategy. T-Mobile Austria’s 5G and LTE platforms will bring fast internet even to Austria’s rural regions. Hybrid and DSL will be added to provide fast internet in suburban areas. Broadband internet will be provided by the fiber-optic network and other technologies in cities.
Baburajan K
