Montenegro to launch commercial use of 5G by end-2022 - report

"In line with our plans, we will most likely implement the radio frequency spectrum allocation process in the second half of next year, so that the commercial availability of 5G networks and services could be expected by the end of 2022," Pobjeda daily quoted the director of telecommunications regulator, EKIP, Darko Grgurovic, as saying on Tuesday.

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on a roadmap for the 5G digital transformation of the six economies of the Western Balkans at the Tirana Digital Summit earlier this month will accelerate the roll-out of the technology in the region, Grgurovic noted.

"I can say that out of these six economies, we approached this issue first, so the signing of this international agreement will accelerate the introduction of 5G and resolve certain open issues, especially the one related to the 700 MHz release deadline by the broadcasting service and its assignment to the mobile service," he added.

A draft financial plan of the regulator for next year showed last month that EKIP intends to launch an auction for frequencies in the 5G mobile spectrum in the fourth quarter of 2021. EKIP plans to launch a single auction for the frequencies in the 694-790 MHz and 3400-3800 MHz bands, as well as 1 GHz of the 24.25-27.5 GHz band, considered suitable for the initial implementation of 5G mobile networks.