State must play role in rollout of 5G networks, says Minister Palkovics

The state must play a role in building the country’s 5G telecommunications network, the innovation and technology minister said at a meeting of the 5G Coalition on Tuesday.

“If we coordinate with service providers, the economy, the market, then the development of the infrastructure can be significantly faster,” László Palkovics said.

He noted that the importance of 5G networks extends well beyond telecommunications, serving as a technological catalyst for a number of innovative fields, such as the Internet of Things and self-driving vehicles.

He said

building 5G networks poses a challenge different from the construction of earlier networks: it will require more small base stations operating with a broader spectrum range.

He said the best solution for building the 5G network was a mixed model in which state and market players are responsible for different areas of infrastructure construction. Issues such as the density of base stations and their operation could be clarified quickly. These issues go to the heart of the government’s 5G strategy planned to be adopted in July, he added.

He noted that

Germany generated 6.5 billion euros in revenue from the auction of the frequency band related to 5G, and construction of its network is expected to be ready by the end of 2022.