Press Releases

Budapest, March 1, 2021 14:30

• Magyar Telekom continued to intensively develop its gigabit network in 2020: the company constructed 377 thousand new optical accesses and upgraded 117 thousand cable access points to gigabit capability. With this, the total number of gigabit accesses increased to almost 2.5 million.
• Last year, optical development was completed in 310 settlements, and currently the optical network is already available in 888 settlements.
• In 2020 fixed data traffic showed a 34% increase, and customers talked on their fixed phones 20% more per month on average than in the year before.
• In 2021 the development of Telekom’s gigabit network continues, the company plans to implement a similar magnitude of new optical accesses as in 2020.

Despite the pandemic, last year the fixed network development activities of Magyar Telekom were completed according to the original plans. Over one year, the company constructed in total 377 thousand new optical accesses, more than in any prior year (this number was 342 thousand in 2019). Additionally, the company upgraded 117 thousand cable access points to provide gigabit capability. All together Telekom’s network is offering gigabit speed for almost 2.5 million homes and businesses, which means that 58% of access points covered (by Telekom) are already capable of theoretical gigabit speed.

Last year, optical development was completed in 310 settlements:  40% of new accesses were installed by Telekom in smaller settlements with a population of less than 5 thousand, but development projects were completed in small towns as well (e.g. Berettyóújfalu, Mohács, Oroszlány), and also in the capital of the country, plus in county capitals (e.g. Debrecen, Miskolc, Székesfehérvár). Telekom’s optical network is currently available in 888 settlements (in certain parts of or in the whole settlement), and of this 666 settlements have at least 60% coverage.

 

Fixed internet traffic is constantly increasing, even under ‘normal’ circumstances, without the pandemic, but during recent months, the traffic generated by many people working, studying or just communicating from home at the same time was putting stability of Magyar Telekom’s networks under the test. Stability and reliability of the teleworking, distant learning traffic and home communication services, even during this demanding period, is a tell-tale sign of proper design and quality of construction and maintenance of the optical and cable networks. Telekom is preparing its networks for new phenomenon that of the strong surge in network traffic upon the release of new or long awaited games or updates for gaming consoles. In 2020, fixed traffic showed a 34% increase, and customers talked on their fixed phones 20% more per month on average than in the year before.

According to Lubor Zatko, Chief Technical Officer of Magyar Telekom: „Since the outbreak of the pandemic, connectivity became even more valuable in our everyday life. I am very proud that in this difficult situation we can support many of our customers also with special propositions to help their home-schooling and home-working duties to be worry free. After the pandemic, digitalization can, indeed, be one of the main motors of expanding the economy. Therefore, we continue to be committed to the development of our gigabit network, and – also in 2021 – we would like to construct optical accesses in numbers similar to last year. We are glad that more and more customers use the opportunities provided by our gigabit network: last year, the number of customers, connected to the optical network, increased by 39%. In the long run, our objective is to gradually replace the existing copper network. Compared to xDSL -based technologies fiber offers significantly higher stability and reliability, so we encourage all our customers to upgrade to fiber and enjoy all these benefits.”