Telia Lietuva, which has been carrying out technological tests of 5G in Lithuania for three years, has installed over 250 new generation base stations from Ericsson since the beginning of summer.
These base stations support technology of all generations of mobile networks, including 5G. The company plans to provide 5G communication services right after obtaining of the required frequencies at an auction.
Telia Lietuva has updated its network by installing Ericsson base stations which support 2G, 3G, 4G as well as 5G network, thus the company is ready to turn the commercial 5G network as soon as it has the required frequencies. Presently, there are 250 Ericsson base stations in the company’s network. Telia Lietuva plans to replace about 2,000 base stations in total in two years.
Back in 2018, Telia Lietuva was one of the first in Europe to install the 5G technology in a real network, and last November, it invited its customers, who had phones or modems supporting 5G and payment plan giving an unlimited amount of data, to test the new generation network for free. At this stage, the testing has been joined by thousands of clients – residents, companies and employees of the operator.
For Telia Lietuva specialists, testing of the 5G in an operating network, provided an opportunity to gain some experience of installing and configuring 5G stations, testing their operation and adjusting the main Telia Lietuva network for working with the 5G technology. Preparation for the start of commercial 5G connectivity is supported by the insights into data usage and people’s feedback.
In addition, Telia Lietuva cooperates with the manufacturers of different phones and routers which activate 5G communications in their devices in the territory of Lithuania. This will reap the benefits in the long run since to adjust phone models requires time, and once the functionality is activated, the 5G network will be accessible in the networks of all communications operators in the future.
Dan Strömberg, CEO of Telia Lietuva
The coronavirus pandemic has revealed that quality of communications network is as important as never before. Moreover, we will not be able to help the country develop without a good connection. I am confident that the joint efforts of network operators and public institutions will help make Lithuania a better country to live and work. In two years, we will prove to Europe that Lithuania is capable of taking a leader’s position in the development of the 5G technology.
