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The road to 5G starts, AKEP opens the public consultation for the award of the first frequencies

2024-02-08 07:16:47, Aktualitet CNA

The road to 5G starts, AKEP opens the public consultation for the award of the

The Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) has started the public consultation procedure for granting rights to use frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band.

These will be the first frequencies that will be used for the provision of 5G mobile communication technology in Albania.

In the decision on the "Approval for public consultation of the Document "On the granting of usage rights in the 3400-3800 MHz (3.5 GHz) frequency band", the Governing Council states that at the end of last year, respectively in the months of November and December, the operators One Albania and Vodafone Albania have submitted in writing to AKEP the expression of interest for the generation in question.

According to the law "On electronic communications", if AKEP, based on the market assessment, considers that the interest in the required frequency band may exceed the availability of frequencies in this band, as well as to guarantee their effective use, it develops a public consultation process with the interested parties, regarding the conditions of use of this frequency band and the procedure that is thought to be applied for their use.

On this basis, on Wednesday (February 7), AKEP approved the launch of the public consultation for this process, which will last 60 days.

The public consultation document does not contain proposals for the minimum value for each unit of spectrum to be put into use (usually the price is determined for each 1 MHz of spectrum), but interested entities are asked about the price they are willing to pay.

The document does not even contain proposals on how the spectrum will be divided and on the number of usage rights that can be granted.

In the practice of EU countries and the region, the number of usage rights in the 3.5 GHz band is different, including the granting of usage rights at the local level, even for the construction of private communication networks.

In theory, the process also creates space for new operators to enter the mobile market. However, considering the small size of the Albanian market, these chances are mostly theoretical, so it is expected that the two existing mobile operators will offer service even in the new frequencies.

The number of usage rights and the asking price are expected to be determined after the close of the public consultation.

According to AKEP, the generation of 5G mobile systems increases the data speed of 4G networks by more than 10 times, improving the techniques of using frequencies.

For 5G generation networks, the National Frequency Plan has defined 3 main frequency bands: 700 MHz, 3400-3800 MHz and 26 GHz.

Currently, in Albania, the 3400-3800 MHz and 26 GHz bands are free, while the 700 MHz band is in use by some audiovisual media operators, but is undergoing a release process from the AMA. After the transition of this band under the administration of AKEP, it will be given for its use for 5G mobile networks, following and implementing the relevant legal procedures. The process of freeing up the 700 MHz band has been postponed several times and there is still no final deadline for when this band will be released for use in function of 5G technology.

In its analysis, AKEP notes that mobile services see an exponential increase in their usage in the data component. The number of active subscribers who used the mobile Internet service in the third quarter of 2023 reached the figure of about 2.5 million subscribers, which is an increase of 9% compared to the previous year. About 91% of active mobile service subscribers use the Internet via smart phones.

The volume of data transmitted over the Internet on mobile networks during the third quarter of 2023 was about 7.94 GB (gigbyte) per month per user, up 7.5% compared to the same period a year ago.

The ever-increasing orientation of mobile services towards data transmission (internet) simultaneously increases the need for more frequencies and for technologies that enable higher speeds./ Monitor.al