Press Releases

Budapest, December 3, 2015 13:30

For the first time in Hungary, on December 3, 2015 the mobile internet service offering up to 300 Mbit/sec nominal download speed became available on Telekom’s network in Nyíregyháza, the first station of the Digital Hungary programme.

• As the first company in Hungary, from today Telekom switched over to 300 Mbps in Nyíregyháza
• In light of the first experiences, further developments are expected
• Meanwhile, Telekom’s 4G mobile internet service reached the 97 percent population coverage planned for this year, and the number of users exceeded 800 thousand

For the first time in Hungary, on December 3, 2015 the mobile internet service offering up to 300 Mbit/sec nominal download speed* became available on Telekom’s network in Nyíregyháza, the first station of the Digital Hungary programme. This is the fastest mobile Internet technology available in Hungary today. The technology enabling this transmission speed is LTE-Advanced, representing the next grade of 4G. The Telekom 4G mobile internet service is currently available to 97 percent of the population in Hungary.

Telekom announced exactly one year ago that the company started to test the technology of up to 300 Mbps at several Budapest locations, and today the lightning fast mobile internet service was launched in Nyíregyháza. Customers using the LTE-Advanced technology in areas covered by the service can experience up to twice the data speed offered so far, using appropriately enabled mobile devices and tariff packages.** Further network rollout is planned in line with customer experience and feedback gained in Nyíregyháza.

The advantages offered by the LTE-Advanced technology are already available to Nyíregyháza residents holding of one the 15 types of smartphones from 6 manufacturers*** included in the Telekom portfolio, as well as using the service provider’s Next M and Next XL smartphone, or Net&Roll M and Net&Roll L mobile internet tariff packages as well as their Gold Partner Card versions.

Christopher Mattheisen, Chief Executive Officer of Magyar Telekom said, „We are very pleased to have been the first company in Hungary switching on the 300 Mbps technology, jointly with our partner, Ericsson. We are especially glad that this progressive service is made firstly available at the first station of Digital Hungary, to the residents of Nyíregyháza. We are convinced that 4G mobile broadband – already available to almost 97 percent of the population of Hungary – and its next generation is one of the key factors of the digital development on infrastructure side both in Europe and in Hungary. Our goal is to promote and accelerate the introduction of new technologies and most sophisticated services in Hungary, contributing this way to implementing the objectives of Digital Hungary.”

“In the frame of the Digital Hungary program, developments of unparalleled scale are implemented in the fields of digital community and economy, digital state as well as digital skills. Consequently, until 2020 the number of electronic public services will increase and with digital literacy becoming general, the individual life quality of citizens improves – while expanding the scope of digital economy will significantly improve the competitiveness of Hungary” - stated Károly Balázs Solymár, deputy state secretary responsible for infocommunication.

“Nyíregyháza already on numerous occasions benefitted from being the primary location of implementing the Digital Hungary program. We managed to build a true partnership with Magyar Telekom, our cooperation is successful and fruitful, going even beyond the establishment of the broadband internet network, as specified in the program. Introducing the LTE-Advanced technology firstly in Hungary – following the premiere in the capital city – in Nyíregyháza is a great gesture from the company, which offers another new benefit to the residents of Nyíregyháza” – noted Dr. Ferenc Kovács, Mayor of Nyíregyháza.

As the main feature of LTE-Advanced, customers enjoy higher transmission speeds and better user experience during activities with higher data requirements, including music streaming, using video contents or applications – even in peak usage periods or at mass events like in stadiums or at festivals. The LTE-Advanced technology enables mobile operators to use the spectrum available to them more efficiently, in order to achieve higher download speeds.

By 2021 the mobile data traffic will increase almost ten fold
According to the most recent Mobility Report of Ericsson, by the end of 2021 global mobile data traffic will increase almost ten times, to 51 Exabyte monthly. The number of smartphones in Europe increases 880 million and more than 70 percent of mobile telephone subscribers will use smartphones. In Western Europe, by 2021the data traffic per smartphone will increase from the current 2 gigabytes to 18 gigabyte. All these will largely increase expectations versus mobile networks. Further to managing the present standards (2G, 3G, 4G), these networks need to meet increasing market demands by using the available frequency bands efficiently and through optimal load allocation. The development course of mobile broadband technologies is defined by 4G/LTE, as for example LTE-Advanced is capable of aggregating frequency bands and hence serving higher data speeds and capacities. In the future, the high quality video and broadcast type services will also be available to great masses of people using the LTE Broadcast technology.

The number of networks built on the most sophisticated mobile technologies increases rapidly
The world’s first LTE-Advanced technology based commercial service was launched by SK Telecom in Korea. Meeting the explosion-like data demand all over the world, more and more operators launch the LTE-A service (Source: Ericsson Mobility Report, November 2015).

In April, 2014 Telekom was the first company in Hungary - jointly with Ericsson - to test the LTE-Advanced technology. At the joint event of Telekom and Ericsson the two companies demonstrated the maximum bandwidth available with the LTE-Advanced technology under the given conditions, by downloading giant size data packages – and by broadcasting the superb 4K definition video content, transmitted by an octocopter (drone) in the air, and several other outdoor mobile cameras.

In 2015 Telekom nearly completed its 4G nationwide residential coverage by increasing it to 97%, with the nominal transmission speed of up to150 Mbps. However, the transmission speed experienced by customers in reality is obviously lower, as it is influenced by numerous factors (capacity of the device used, tariff package, topographical conditions, load on the cell, etc.)

Currently, the 4G service of Telekom is used by more than 800 thousand customers. The pace of further LTE-Advanced developments will be driven by customer demand.
Meanwhile, in spring 2015 Telekom also accelerated its new generation fixed network rollout, and by the year end the high speed broadband internet will be available to further 440 thousand households – thus increasing the current broadband network coverage of Telekom to more than 2.2 million households.

Telekom for Digital Hungary and Digital Nyíregyháza
The key objective of the complex government program called Digital Hungary is to make the high speed broadband internet available to all Hungarian households by 2018, two years earlier than the deadline set by the EU Digital Agenda. The related program of Telekom and the digital infrastructure supports the execution of this, through the development of digital services and competencies.

The first station of implementing Digital Hungary is Nyíregyháza: in the spring of this year Magyar Telekom – in cooperation with the Ministry for National Development and the Municipality of Nyíregyháza – launched comprehensive developments in the county seat. As part of that, Magyar Telekom carries out self financed network developments, and consequently the high speed, broadband internet will become available to further 7,000 households. In addition, in the frame of the Smart Digital program Telekom also promotes the development of digital literacy of residents living in the region.

About Ericsson Hungary
The activities of Ericsson Hungary – employing almost 2,000 people – are based on two pillars. Ericsson Hungary is the largest company in Hungary dealing with telecommunication and IT research, as well as software and hardware development. The integration of education – basic research – applied research – industrial implementation is exemplary within the company’s activity.  Further to the R&D activity, Ericsson Hungary is also the supplier of the mobile network of Magyar Telekom. Highly skilled engineers – working in the regional engineering service center, belonging to the business unit – in numerous countries of the world participate in serving telecommunication systems, project implementation as well as integration of different systems. In addition, the unit of the company offering managed services also provides on-site maintenance activities to Hungarian service providers.

About Magyar Telekom
Magyar Telekom is Hungary’s largest telecommunication operator, providing the full range of telecommunication and infocommunication (ICT) services, including fixed line, mobile phone, data transmission and non-voice as well as IT and system integration services. Magyar Telekom has majority shareholding in Makedonski Telekom, Macedonia’s largest fixed line and mobile operator and in Crnogorski Telekom, Montenegro’s largest telecommunications service provider. Magyar Telekom’s majority ownership (59.21 %) is CMobil B.V., fully owned by Deutsche Telekom AG. For further information visit www.telekom.hu 

*Achieving the maximum speed depends on the availability of an appropriately enabled device, supporting the given technology and on whether the network at the given location supports that speed – as well as on the radio and traffic conditions.

**Using the LTE-A based data service requires:
- an LTE-A enabled device, supporting the bandwidths used by Telekom,
- an LTE-A enabled monthly or periodically priced tariff package,
- LTE-A network coverage.

*** LTE-A enabled smartphones included in the assortment of Telekom:
Apple iPhone 6s
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
HTC A9
HTC One M9
LG H815 "G4"
Microsoft Lumia 950
Samsung SM-G903F "Galaxy S5 Neo"
Samsung SM-G928F "Galaxy S6 Edge +"
Samsung SM-T815 "Galaxy Tab S2 9.7"
Samsung SM-G920F "Galaxy S6"
Samsung SM-G925F "Galaxy S6 Edge"
Samsung SM-G850F "Galaxy Alpha"
Samsung SM-N910F "Galaxy Note 4"
Sony E5820 "Xperia Z5 compact"
Sony E6653 "Xperia Z5"