January 18 (SeeNews) - Montenegrin mobile operators plan to invest 34 million euro ($38.7 million) this year to accelerate the introduction of the 5G technology in the country, local media reported on Tuesday.
Telecommunications regulator EKIP plans to allocate frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2.3 GHz, 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz bands in 2022 to open the way for further development of LTE/LTE-Advanced networks, as well as the implementation of 5G in Montenegro at full capacity, the Pobeda daily quoted the director of EKIP, Darko Grgurovic, as saying.
Montenegro's population is 99% covered by GSM signal, while the total coverage rate of the UMTS and LTE networks amounts to 97-98%, which puts Montenegro among the countries with an extremely good coverage, Grgurovic noted.
In December, EKIP said it approved bids placed by Mtel, Crnogorski Telekom and Telenor Montenegro in a public auction for allocation of national frequency licences for 5G mobile networks held on December 27. Mtel won frequencies in the 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2 GHz and 2.6 GHz spectra, while Crnogorski Telekom and Telenor Montenegro secured frequencies in the 2.6 GHz spectrum.
($ = 0.878189 euro)