Magyar Telekom expands 5G coverage with Ericsson Spectrum Sharing

Magyar Telekom has launched - first among Hungarian service providers - 5G services on 2100 MHz frequency range, acquired at this spring’s frequency auction, and according to plans, it will increase the population coverage of its 5G network in Budapest to 30% by year end.

By the end of December, in addition to currently covered downtown area, the 5G network will be also partly available on the Pest side in districts V., VI., VII., VIII. and in districts IX., XIII., XIV. in areas closer to the city center up to Hungária körút, while on the Buda side in certain parts of districts I., II., XI. and XII.

In early April this year, the service provider launched its 5G commercial service on 3.6GHz frequency, a few days after successfully bidding at the announced frequency auction. Thanks to continuous developments completed since then, the 5G mobile service is already available - besides Budapest and Budaörs – in 21 settlements around lake Balaton and 5 county capitals (Zalegerszeg, Debrecen, Szeged, Kecskemét and Szombathely). By using 2100 MHz frequency band combined with new features of modern mobile network technology (Ericsson Spectrum Sharing, ie. dynamic spectrum sharing), the 5G network will further expand in Budapest, improving the capital’s outdoor relative population coverage from the current 13% to 30% by the end of 2020.

Lubor Zatko, Chief Technical Officer of Magyar Telekom says: „ We are constantly making a great effort to develop our networks, since this is the basis for providing quality services to our customers. By using new spectrum while also partly reconfiguring the already utilized frequency ranges for the purpose of 5G service provision, we can give an opportunity for a greater customer base to get a taste of the benefits of 5G. What’s more, thanks to Ericsson Spectrum Sharing technology, customers using 4G can also enjoy a better user experience in these areas. ”

While using 3.6 GHz allows for providing high (even above 1 Gbps) speed and capacity in a small area, the 2100 MHz frequency newly launched by Magyar Telekom, makes it possible to extend 5G coverage to larger areas faster, and also offers good 5G experience indoors. The theoretical maximum download speed, offered to our customers in specific locations, is 500-600Mbps. Magyar Telekom reasonably combines the use of the two frequency ranges for its 5G service, taking into consideration the wave propagation parameters of both frequency ranges to ensure the best customer experience and coverage.

Telekom is also the first in Hungary to use in a live network the Ericsson Spectrum Sharing technology provided by Ericsson, which enables not just 5G coverage provisioning, but offers valuable capacity extension in the relevant locations to customers using the 4G network as well (more devices can connect in a given area, without service deterioration). Magyar Telekom reasonably combines its 5G service, taking into consideration the wave propagation parameters of both frequency ranges to ensure the best customer experience and coverage.

Gábor Éry, President of Ericsson Hungary says: “ We are proud to support Magyar Telekom’s technology innovations with Ericsson Radio System, which supports switching on the 5G in any radio frequency deployed on the sites. Furthermore, with Ericsson Spectrum Sharing our customers can for the first time introduce new technology generation without dedicating radio spectrum. In this case the 2100 MHz spectrum is dynamically shared between 4G and 5G in every 1 millisecond depending on the user demand. Ericsson Spectrum Sharing enables Magyar Telekom to use its investment in new spectrum most efficiently. With this announcement, Magyar Telekom belongs to one of the few services providers globally to launch commercial 5G services in an FDD band with Ericsson Spectrum Sharing ."

In the areas covered, customers can use the 5G service with one of the unlimited mobile data packages (Gigaerős Net, Gigaerős Net+), and 3 or 10 day unlimited network expansion packages (Gigaerős ExtraNetek). A 5G capable device is needed for using the service*. In the current portfolio of Telekom the Apple iPhone 12 series, Samsung Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra, the Huawei P40 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro devices are capable of using the 5G service operated on the new frequency. The 5G capable product portfolio will keep expanding in the future.