June 27 (SeeNews) - Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson and Romanian telecommunications services operator RCS&RDS said on Thursday they launched in Bucharest the first 5G commercial service in Romania.
Built on top of DIGI's 4G network, the enhanced mobile broadband capabilities enable customers to connect to both 4G and 5G simultaneously, the two companies said in a joint press release.
RCS & RDS is the Romanian branch of Digi Communications N.V.,[BSE:DIGI] a Dutch company listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) which provides fixed and mobile electronic communications in Romania, Hungary, Spain and Italy.
This first phase of DIGI's 5G rollout is a Non-standalone (NSA) deployment focused on using the combined power of 4G and 5G. In the coming weeks, DIGI and Ericsson will activate more 5G radios and base stations in Bucharest and the city of Cluj-Napoca.
"Today, we are experimenting the capabilities of Digi Mobil 5G Smart network, with the commissioning of the first station in our network, in one of the busiest areas of the capital. As usual, our promise is that we will serve our customers with reliable and affordable mobile data services, including 5G, in selected areas in Bucharest and other big cities of Romania already in 2019," RCS&RDS vice president Valentin Popoviciu said.
Romania plans to start spectrum auction for additional spectrum needed for 5G wireless networks in the fourth quarter of 2019. DIGI can already start offering initial 5G services through its available commercial spectrum within the 3.6 -- 3.8 GHz band, the companies said.
"We are delighted to partner with DIGI as it switches on commercial 5G in Romania, joining other commercial 5G networks around the world that are powered by Ericsson. It is a crucial time for 5G in Europe and Ericsson is focused on making sure the continent is ready to reap the benefits that increased network capacity and ultra-low latency will bring," Ericsson president and head of Europe and Latin America, Arun Bansal, said.
Digi's shares traded 0.34% higher to 29.8 lei as at 1414 CET on the BVB.
(1 euro=4.7224 lei)