A1 Telekom Austria has announced that it has used its newly acquired 800MHz spectrum to extend its Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage to 200 locations across the country, including a number of rural regions never previously covered by its 3G network. A1 says that the deployment programme means that around 45% of the population are now covered by its 4G network.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, A1 acquired 2×20MHz blocks of 800MHz spectrum in the Telekom Control Commission’s (TKK’s) ‘combinatory clock’ auction in October 2013. In addition, the telco snagged 2×15MHz blocks of 900MHz frequencies and 2×35MHz blocks of 1800MHz spectrum, paying a total of EUR1.03 billion (USD1.41 billion) for the bandwidth.