More 5G rollout news – this time from Slovenia, where operator Telemach has announced that it is rolling out a 5G network after gaining the necessary frequencies to offer wireless broadband through a national auction that took place in April this year.
The new network will initially be available to users in the centre of Ljubljana and the commercial district BTC.
According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate, the company won 3.5GHz spectrum at auction, making this the first true gigabit 5G system in the country.
Another operator, Telekom Slovenije rolled out 5G just under a year ago but apparently used its existing spectrum holdings in the 2.6GHz band to do so.
According to the Slovenia Times, Telemach announced on Monday it had paid €51.6 million ($62.56 million) for the frequencies and plans to invest €100 million ($121.24 million) in its 4G and 5G mobile networks in the coming years.
As part of the wireless spectrum auction in April, the country’s regulator, the Agency for Communication Networks and Services (AKOS), offered frequency bands for fifth generation wireless technology, selling them for a combined EUR 164.2 million ($199 million) to four bidders – A1 Slovenija, Telekom Slovenije, Telemach and T-2.
The Telemach launch comes just days after AKOS released the spectrum in the 700MHz, 1500MHz, 3.5GHz and 26GHz bands that was auctioned earlier this year. Telemach tested 5G technology over a year ago but had to acquire the frequencies before it could roll out the new technology for commercial use.
Telemach has 600,000 users in Slovenia. It is owned by Dutch-based multi-play and media provider United Group, which, according to the website SeeNews, is combining Telemach Slovenia and Telemach Croatia into a single business cluster, managed by Telemach Slovenia CEO Adrian Jezina.