Magyar Telekom raises 5G population coverage to 60%

Hungary’s Magyar Telekom has announced that its 5G network population coverage is being increased to 60% (outdoor), effective 1 June 2023 when its 5G mobile services will be available across Budapest, all county capitals, several rural towns and villages, and around Lake Balaton, Lake Velencei and Lake Tisza. Furthermore, between 1 June and 31 August Telekom is making 5G automatically available to all its customers free of charge on any 5G-capable device and mobile internet tariff.

Under a multi-year modernisation programme, Telekom upgraded nearly 30% of its mobile base stations in 2022, bringing total modernised stations to 60%, and has continued such projects this year. Upgraded sites were selected based on customer demand and from among base stations serving the busiest areas, while a significant number of the modernised stations have also undergone capacity upgrades. Telekom’s 5G network operates in the 700MHz, 2100MHz and 3500MHz spectrum bands, with most of its recent expansion typically utilising 700MHz.

Telekom’s CTO Lubor Zatko highlighted in a press release: ‘Last year we switched off our 3G network, we are working non-stop to improve the capacity and coverage of our 4G network to improve our customer experience in terms of voice and data traffic, and we are also continuously improving our 5G network, tripling our 5G outdoor population coverage compared to 2022.’ TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database shows that Telekom launched its 3500MHz 5G services in April 2020, with gradual 5G expansion to reach 9.8% of the population by mid-2021 and roughly 18% by mid-2022, meanwhile switching on 2100MHz 5G via Dynamic Spectrum Sharing in Q4 2020 and adding 700MHz 5G frequencies in Q4 2021.