Hungarian govt will play role in 5G network building -minister (updated)
18/06/2019 09:26
(Adds details, quotes)
BUDAPEST, June 18 (Reuters) - Hungary's government will have
to play a role in building a 5G network in co-operation with
service providers to ensure the infrastructure is put in place
quickly, the innovation and technology minister said on Tuesday.
Hungary aims to start 5G services at major industrial sites
in 2020 and the network should cover all big cities and main
transport routes by the middle of the next decade, Innovation
and Technology Minister Laszlo Palkovics said.
Hungarian telecoms regulator NHMM published on Monday the
draft documentation for the sale of more than 400 megahertz of
5G spectrum later this year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS0N1SA01S
The main mobile players in Hungary are Deutsche Telekom
DTEGn.DE unit Magyar Telekom MTEL.BU , Vodafone VOD.L and
Telenor.
Construction of 5G mobile antennas to provide sufficient
national coverage could cost up to 700 billion forints ($2.4
billion) under a purely market-based solution, Palkovics said.
"The state has to play some role in the construction of 5G
network infrastructure, otherwise it could be slow," he told a
conference, but did not specify what the government's role would
be.
"If we co-ordinate this with service providers, the build-up
of the infrastructure can be faster."
Palkovics said Hungary hoped to wrap up the sale of 5G
frequencies faster than Germany, where a 5G mobile spectrum
auction raised 6.55 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in a record 497
rounds of bidding. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N23K1T9
The ministry plans to submit a national 5G strategy to the
government by mid-July, Palkovics said.
($1 = 286.46 forints)
($1 = 0.8927 euros)
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Susan Fenton)
((gergely.szakacs@reuters.com ; https://twitter.com/szakacsg ;
+36 1 882 3606;
https://www.reuters.com/journalists/gergely-szakacs))