BROWSING: EMEA

  South African operator Vodacom Group expects to launch commercial 5G services during 2020 by using a network being built by rival operator Liquid Telecom, Vodacom Chief Executive Shameel Joosub said. Liquid Telecom had recently announced it was building a wholesale 5G network in South Africa...

  Belgium’s Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) has proposed the issue of temporary 5G licenses in the 3.5 GHz band to avoid further delays in the country’s 5G rollout plans. Existing 2G and 3G licenses in Belgium are due to expire in 2021. The...

  Ericsson said it has been selected by Orange France to deploy its 5G Radio Access Network in three major French regions, including Paris, and modernize its existing 2G/3G/4G radio access network. As part of the agreement, Ericsson 5G RAN products and solutions from the Ericsson...

  Orange France has selected Nokia to evolve its mobile access network towards 5G technology, the Finnish vendor said in a release. Under the terms of the deal, Nokia will provide Orange, for a broad part of France, with a range of products and services from...

  U.K. telecom group BT said that the decision by the UK government to restrict the use of Huawei’s kit in the country’s 5G networks would have a cost of £500 million ($655 million) for the company over the next five years. “We are in the...

  The European Commission (EC) has announced a joint "toolbox" of mitigating measures agreed upon by EU member states to address security risks related to the rollout of 5G technology. This announcement follows the European Council's call for a concerted approach to the security of 5G...

  British officials have proposed granting Chinese vendor Huawei a limited role in the deployment of 5G networks in the country, resisting U.S. pressure for a complete ban, Reuters reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. The recommendation was made at a meeting of...

  Telekom Austria's subsidiary A1 confirmed in a release that it will commercially launch 5G services this week. A1’s 5G network will cover 350 locations across 129 municipalities in Austria, the company said. The company claims its "A1 5Giganetwork" will be the largest 5G network in Austria,...

  Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei said that the Chinese vendor is now “more confident” that it can survive further sanctions by the U.S. government. “This year, the U.S. might further escalate their campaign against Huawei, but I feel the impact on Huawei's business would not be...

  U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that critics of Chinese vendor Huawei must come up with alternative providers to supply equipment for 5G networks, as the U.S. government increased the pressure for a ban on the Chinese vendor. During an interview with BBC News, Johnson...

  Saud Arabia’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) expects to award two mobile virtual network operator licenses for foreign operators interested in investing in the Saudi telecom market, a spokesperson at CITC told RCR Wireless News. The spokesperson said that the two licenses will be...

  U.K. telecommunications group Vodafone said that its customers can use 5G services in more than 100 places in the U.K. and other European countries. Specifically in the U.K, the telco said that its 5G offering has been recently activated in Belfast , Edinburgh and Leeds....

  Finnish vendor Nokia announced that it has reached a total of 63 commercial 5G contracts worldwide. The company said that some of the customers include AT&T, KDDI, Korea Telecom, LG Uplus, NTT DOCOMO, O2, SK Telecom, SoftBank, Sprint, STC, T-Mobile US, Verizon, Vodafone Italy and...

  Italian operators kicked off comercial 5G offerings in parts of the country’s main cities during the second half of 2019 and have already announced plans to rapidly expand coverage during 2020. Vodafone was the first operator to offer commercial 5G services in Italy. The telco,...

  U.K. telco O2 says it is providing 5G service in 20 cities across the country as of the end of 2019. O2, which is part of Telefonica, initially launched its 5G service in October, in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Leeds and Slough. It subsequently switched...

  Spanish wireless infrastructure operator Cellnex has reached an agreement with Altice Europe and Belmont Infra Holdings, to acquire the 100% of Portuguese telecommunications towers and sites operator Omtel for 800 million euros ($890 million), Cellnex said in a statement. The acquisition also covers the rollout...

  French communications regulator Arcep officially opened applications for the sale of 5G spectrum licenses, Arcep said in a statement. Interested operators will have until February 25 to submit their applications. This announcement follows the confirmation of pricing and terms released by Arcep in mid-December. Arcep also confirmed...

Zain planning 2,000 5G towers in initial rollout Mobile operators in Saudi Arabia have been accelerating the deployment of 5G networks across the Kingdom during the second half of 2019 after the government awarded spectrum for the provision of this technology. In November, Middle East telecom...

  U.K. telco EE, owned by telecommunications group BT, announced it has switched on its first 5G sites in six new cities across the U.K., the carrier said in a statement. With these new launches, the telco now provides 5G services in 50 cities and large...

  The French government has launched a procedure for assigning 5G frequency licenses after it approved specifications proposed by telecoms regulator Arcep as well as the financial conditions for the licenses, the government said in a release. The government confirmed it had fixed the price of...

  Austrian telecommunications company Drei expects to operate a total of 100 5G base stations across the country by the end of the year, the telco said in a release. The carrier also said that the city center of Linz is already fully covered with 5G...

  Ericsson announced it has provided 5G network equipment for a new pilot network that was launched by Dannish carrier TDC in the city of Helsingør, Denmark. The Swedish vendor said that local partners and municipal customers have been granted access to test new services on the...

  German carrier Deutsche Telekom has launched commercial 5G services in the city of Hamburg, according to local press reports. The service is currently being offered through 18 5G antennas in the city. Deutsche Telekom expects to deploy another 40 5G sites in Hamburg in the...

  Operators in regions such as Europe, Asia and the United States have started the 5G race with commercial launches this year. RCR Wireless News interviewed Ignacio Contreras, director of marketing for 5G of Qualcomm, to learn more about the company's vision on the current...