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A letter sent to the Government and the Presidency on Tuesday by the Business Confederation, the Infobalt Association, the Investor Forum, and the country’s three mobile operators – Telia Lietuvos, Tele2 and Bitė – on Tuesday, emphasizes that the state, by establishing VKRT, wants to take over some of the important frequencies for the development of 5G in the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz bands.
According to them, such decisions would have a negative impact not only on the development of 5G communication in Lithuania, but also on the overall investment environment of the country.
The letter also states that if the state created such a network, it would cost 4-5 times more expensive than if the critical network infrastructure were created and the existing operators provided the services.
The project prepared by the Ministry indicates that state investments in the new critical communications network would amount to about 43 million LTL. euros.
However, Mindaugas Ubartas, director of the Infobalt Information Technology and Communications Association, says that research conducted in the European Union (EU) shows that networks developed by the state separately from private market players cost around the 40 percent. plus.
According to him, the installation of a base station costs from 50 to 60 thousand. euros. According to data from the Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT) on June 1, Telia Lietuva has 1467 stations of this type, Tele2 – 1339, Bitė Lietuva – 1190 stations of this type.
Therefore, to create a competitive network, it would take much more investment, Infobalt cautions.
“It just came to our knowledge then. Locations where the base stations are located. It is up to the state to make such investments that have already been made,” Ubart told BNS.
“This movement from under the table has nothing to do with security, criticism or solid logic. In my opinion, this is an unnecessary waste of time and resources, “he added.
Telecentras, for its part, argues that it is not correct to affirm that the intention is to create a parallel network and infrastructure, nor is it appropriate to affirm that Telecentras would in fact become a state telecommunication.
According to the company director Remigijus Šeris, the goal is to create a dedicated non-commercial network that is used by the country’s special services: police, civil security, fire, ambulance, energy, customs and others.
“The problem is that many services currently use radio networks with different technologies that cannot be interconnected or coordinated with each other. For example, the police cannot connect directly to an ambulance, even working at the same access point, ”Sherry told BNS.
5G development frequencies
The draft provides that the Ministry of the Interior must request the RRT before October 20 to reserve the 2×15 MHz frequency band of the 700 MHz frequency band and the 100 MHz wide band in the 3.5 frequency band GHz for VKRT needs.
These frequencies could be used for the development of a commercial 5G network. Mr. Ubart emphasizes that it is illogical to give the same frequencies to a service that will be used by about 11,000 people. people, as well as this service, which will be used by a million users.
“There are three operators that are building networks and their networks will be used by a million users, in addition there will be some more Internet devices. And now we will build another network that will be used by 11 thousand people. And with limited resources, that is, frequencies “Both will have the same. This is where we are unequivocally wrong,” said the director of Infobalt.
However, Telecentras says it plans to allocate three-quarters of the frequency band for commercial purposes, with the remaining quarter to be used for VKRT.
“Frequencies are state property that should be used for the needs of the state and society, including security needs. To our knowledge, most European countries reserve frequency resources that are or will be allocated to meet national security needs. Sweden would be a role model in this case, “Sher said.
According to him, it was not possible to use the Internet infrastructure, data transmission and IPTV business that Mezon sold to Bitei for the development of VKRT, because it is not technologically suitable for that purpose.
Finally, Mr. Ubart notes that the start-up of a state-owned operator has reduced the incentive for other operators to invest.
For its part, R. Šeris maintains that the dedication of frequencies to VKRT cannot be treated as the development of a state telecommunication and that the network would not represent a threat to commercial operators.
The Ministry of Transportation proposes to build the network using a hybrid model: a network built by a state-controlled operator with the help of private operators.
It is stated that there are currently more than 15 different and disconnected mobile and radio communication networks in the country, and the communication costs per device and year range between 41 euros (Department of Prisons) and 2,950 euros (ambulance of Vilnius).
The proposal will be discussed at a government meeting on Wednesday.
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