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The new 5G mobile communications standard is conquering the world. Even 5G transmission masts have been erected on Mount Everest. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, powered by China, the number of 5G mobile connections will skyrocket from around 184 million this year to 2.7 billion in 2025.
Austria is now also accelerating 5G expansion. After frequencies in the 3.5 GHz range were awarded to A1 (Telekom Austria), T-Mobile Austria and Hutchison 3 Austria in 2019, the second auction, which closed on Friday, focused on 700 frequency packages. MHz, 1.5 GHz and 2.1 GHz. Regulatory authority RTR (Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH) announced that this will allow nationwide coverage of regions that previously did not have sufficient supply of high-performance mobile broadband internet . “The 5G traffic light is green,” RTR chief Klaus Steinmaurer said cheerfully.
This was possible thanks to the design of the auction: the acquisition of 700 MHz frequencies was linked to the mobile phone coverage of 900 cadastral communities that were still poorly supplied or not. To create an incentive for additional care, a bonus system was created. Against the assumption of the obligation of underdeveloped additional areas, there were price discounts for bidding mobile operators. In this way, it was possible to equip 802 cadastral communities with broadband in the future.
Investment commitments of 500 million euros
A1, Hutchison 3 Austria and Magenta (formerly T-Mobile Austria) transfer a total of 202 million euros to the finance minister for the frequencies. In addition, there are investment commitments of around 500 million euros, which will please regional construction companies.
According to Telekom Minister Elisabeth Köstinger, the actual proceeds from the auction were around 300 million euros, due to the discounts it was only 202 million euros. For Köstinger it is important that the expansion of 5G in rural regions is accelerated rapidly: “To this end, we have linked the coverage requirements to the use of frequencies that will ensure that 1702 previously underserved cadastral communities receive 5G in the coming years.”
Magenta pays more: the mobile operator is making frequencies cost 86.7 million euros. “With the excellent new frequency settings, we can strengthen our role as a leading 5G provider,” emphasized Andreas Bierwirth, CEO of Magenta. With this frequency acquisition, Magenta is committed to expanding 615 underserved cadastral communities and has submitted to RTR a list of communities that can benefit from rapid expansion with fast internet. By the end of 2020, the Magenta network will supply 5G to nearly 40 percent of homes and businesses at 1,200 locations in all federal states.
Jan Trionow, CEO of Hutchison 3, praised the fair auction and moderate prices. The company, which has committed to supplying 5G to 738 cadastral communities, currently has 150 5G transmission systems in real operation in all federal states, a figure that is expected to double by the end of the year. Hutchison 3 pays 49.6 million euros after discounting the price discounts.
Thomas Arnoldner, CEO of A1 Telekom Austria Group, which bought a frequency spectrum for 65.6 million euros, was also satisfied. He sees the auction result “as a long-term investment in the Austrian mobile network and the country’s digital future.” A1 owns about 38 percent, and therefore most of the total spectrum, and has waived the obligation to supply 5G to 349 heavily rural communities.
The fifth generation of mobile communications can transport data about 100 times faster than LTE (4G) and also scores with shorter data execution times (latency). Many more devices can be operated in a 5G radio cell than with older standards, and devices can be located within one meter. A 5G network can connect a large number of things and machines in a factory, provide high bandwidths for playing high-resolution video, for example, or offer a particularly fast and reliable network with short latencies for controlling traffic on highways. .
