The new network is now available to residents of the Bratislava district of Petržalka and residents of a selected part of Banská Bystrica. The news concludes the company’s three-year-long investment in the modernisation of the mobile network worth €144 million.
"Thanks to the most extensive modernisation of our network, we were able to start implementing several ambitious projects, including the construction of the first real high-speed 5G network in Slovakia, which brings extremely high transmission speeds and low latency,” said Federico Colom (pictured), CEO, Orange Slovakia.
“Orange's starting position for launching the 5G network is thus more than good, and its gradual deployment will take place in two phases - evolutionary and revolutionary."
Leveraging this new infrastructure customers can transfer data at speeds of up to 1300Mbps when downloading and 130Mbps when sending files. These record speeds are achieved through a separate frequency band - 3.5GHz, which operates independently from the 4G and 4G + networks and uses the 5G technology standard as an extension.
In addition, the network uses the latest Massive MIMO technology, which improves the efficiency and speed of data transfer.
“The launch of a new network, as 5G is, is an important milestone in the operator's history, which occurs only once in a decade. In addition, the recent crisis has shown, how critical connectivity is for our economies,” said Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière, Deputy CEO of Europe, Orange.
“I am glad that Orange Slovakia has set out on a path that will enable it to bring new services and innovations to customers in the future.”
In terms of sustainability, 5G is also more energy efficient than previous technologies, with 5G antennas consuming half the energy as their 4G counterparts per GB transported “at low loads” and by 2025, widespread deployment will mean they consume 10 times less per GB transported while accommodating more users and carrying 10 times more traffic.
5G will therefore help Orange achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 in line with the company’s Engage 2025 strategic plan.
