Magyar Telekom has claimed that it is the first Hungarian operator to expand 5G mobile services using the 2100MHz frequency band, via Ericsson Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology. Telekom launched its commercial 5G network in April this year using the 3.5GHz band in selected areas of downtown Budapest and central Zalaegerszeg (covering parts of Budapest districts V, VI and VII at mid-year, TeleGeography notes), and also switched on 5G base stations in the Lake Balaton region in July. It is now in the process of increasing 5G population coverage in the capital from 13% to 30%, expecting to achieve this by late December, when 5G zones will be live on the Pest side of the city in parts of districts V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XIII and XIV, and on the Buda side in parts of districts I, II, XI and XII.
Furthermore, Telekom disclosed that 5G services are live in four other county capitals alongside Zalaegerszeg, namely Debrecen, Szeged, Kecskemet and Szombathely, plus Budaors (a town in Pest county) and 21 settlements around Lake Balaton.
With DSS technology, the 2100MHz spectrum is dynamically shared between 4G and 5G on a one-millisecond basis depending on the user demand. Customers can access 5G with one of Telekom’s unlimited mobile data packages or limited-time expansion packages (Gigaeros ExtraNetek). 5G capable devices include the Apple iPhone 12 series, Samsung Galaxy S20+ and S20 Ultra, Huawei P40 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro.