5G is Growing Slowly in Croatia

Croatia, a picturesque country with a vibrant telecommunications sector, has a competitive mobile market that has evolved significantly over the years. With increasing mobile penetration, enhanced network infrastructure, and a growing demand for data services, the mobile landscape in Croatia is an interesting one to explore. Having written about the imminent launch of 5G in 2020, we were hoping for a lot more progress with 5G rollout so far.

Croatia's telecom market is largely controlled by the incumbent operator Hrvatski Telekom, along with the local branches of United Group and Telekom Austria. However, competition remains strong, supported by several smaller operators. The regulator has played a key role in fostering this competitive environment by implementing measures to facilitate network access and promoting regional licensing. Notably, two recent 5G licenses were allocated specifically for regional rather than national operators.

The mobile market consists of three major network operators (MNOs). These providers have been focused on increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) by encouraging prepaid customers to switch to postpaid plans and boosting revenue from mobile data services. While 5G is now widely available, the full impact of the technology will become apparent after 2021, following the distribution of licenses across various frequency bands. This spectrum, previously reserved for GSM, 3G, and LTE services, will play a key role in the government’s national broadband plan extending to 2027, which aligns with the European Commission’s goals to achieve gigabit connectivity by the end of 2025.

2G on Hrvatski Telekom and A1 is on 900 MHz and Telemach on 1800 MHz, 3G is on 900 MHz and 2100 MHz with all three providers. 4G/LTE is available on bands 1, 3, 7 and 20 (800, 1800, 2100 and 2700 MHz) with carrier aggregation available on all three providers. In 2021 all three operators are rolling out 5G. Hrvatski Telekom and A1 have started on n28 (700 MHz) and n78 (3500 MHz), and are now open for all Hrvatski Telekom prepaid packages and the unlimited A1 prepaid package, but not yet on Telemach and MVNOs.

Hrvatski Telekom (HT) is the largest mobile operator in Croatia, controlling a significant portion of the market. As part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, HT benefits from the vast expertise and resources of one of Europe’s largest telecom companies. HT has consistently led the market in terms of both subscribers and network quality.

Recently Rijeka Gateway has announced a 5G standalone (SA) connectivity partnership with Hrvatski Telekom (HT), marking the implementation of an advanced private 5G campus network.

Rijeka Gateway, which operates facilities at Croatia's largest port in Rijeka, is a joint venture between APM Terminals and ENNA Group. This development is entirely new, without any legacy LTE network infrastructure, which the company highlights as a key advantage, making it the first HT installation to use SA architecture.

Set to commence operations in 2025, Rijeka Gateway will utilize HT's public mobile network to support its primarily remotely operated electric equipment. The terminal emphasizes that its use of electric container handling equipment will significantly minimize environmental impact, reducing noise and pollution for the surrounding community.

The Croatian operator Hrvatski Telekom has already started shutting down their 3G network. Complete switch-off by end of Jan 2025https://t.co/I02prt7vL6https://t.co/nPdwOF8eOm

2G will continue to work as normal#2G #3G #3G4G5G #2G3Gshutdown pic.twitter.com/R7R2nkAbJe

— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) October 6, 2024

HT has already started shutting down their 3G network and plan to have their 3G completely switched-off by end of Jan. 2025. Their 2G network will still be around for a while.

A1 Croatia (formerly known as Vipnet) is the second-largest mobile operator in the country. A1 is part of A1 Telekom Austria Group, which operates in several European countries. A1 Croatia has positioned itself as a strong competitor to HT, especially in terms of pricing and customer service.

Telemach is the third provider in Croatia. It was called Tele2 before it was sold to a local cable operator. They started 4G/LTE in 2016 already covering 90% and opened it to all prepaid plans. In cities coverage is similar to HT and A1. In rural areas (highways outside cities and unpopulated areas) Telemach roams on Hrvatski Telekom without surcharges. After its acquisition by United Group in 2020, Telemach has been expanding its services and network to compete more aggressively with HT and A1.

The Croatian government and telecom operators have been working together to modernize the country’s mobile infrastructure, especially with the 5G rollout. Both HT and A1 have launched 5G networks, covering major cities such as Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka. Telemach has been somewhat slower in rolling out 5G but is catching up through significant infrastructure investments.

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: Croatia is Switching-On 5G 

The Bahamas Consults on 5G

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an island state that consists of more than 700 islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It's located north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic); northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands; southeast of the US state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys.

Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 358.9 thousand cellular mobile connections in The Bahamas at the start of 2024.

However, note that many people around the world make use of more than one mobile connection – for example, they might have one connection for personal use, and another one for work – so it’s not unusual for mobile connection figures to significantly exceed figures for total population.

GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in The Bahamas were equivalent to 86.7 percent of the total population in January 2024.

The number of mobile connections in The Bahamas decreased by 5,154 (-1.4 percent) between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024.

In the Bahamas, two major mobile operators dominate the market: BTC for Bahamas Telecommunications Company which was the only provider until 2016 and Aliv by NewCo which changed the mobile landscape when it started in 2016. 

BTC (Bahamas Telecommunications Company): The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) is the oldest and largest telecom operator in the country. Originally a government-owned entity, BTC was privatized in 2011, with the British telecom company Cable & Wireless Communications acquiring a significant stake. BTC has long been a key player in the nation's mobile and internet services, offering 4G LTE networks to residents and tourists across the islands.

2G/EDGE is on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz, 3G up to HSPA+ on 850 MHz. 4G/LTE started in 2014 on 700 MHz (band 17). In 2017 it claims to cover 99% of the Bahamas by 4G/LTE at good speeds.

Aliv launched in 2016, is the second-largest mobile operator in the Bahamas. It was introduced to foster competition and offer more choices to consumers. Aliv has rapidly gained a strong foothold in the Bahamian telecom sector, offering LTE services and emphasizing innovative mobile plans and customer service. They built up a 3G/HSPA network on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz and 4G/LTE on 700 MHz (band 13), no 2G/GSM. Voice over LTE services are available.

The Bahamas has yet to roll out a full-fledged 5G network, however, there have been steps toward its development. BTC has been actively preparing its network infrastructure to accommodate 5G technology. The company has hinted at upcoming trials and investments aimed at future-proofing its network. BTC’s current focus seems to be on upgrading its 4G LTE services while laying the groundwork for a 5G rollout in the coming years.

Aliv, the more recent competitor in the telecom space, has expressed its interest in bringing 5G to the Bahamas. The company has already made investments in advanced network infrastructure to ensure it can compete effectively in a 5G future. Aliv is also positioning itself as a forward-thinking telecom company, aiming to deliver faster speeds and better connectivity as 5G becomes a reality.

While 5G holds great promise, there are several challenges to its development in the Bahamas. Rolling out 5G is a costly endeavour, particularly in a country like the Bahamas, where many of the islands are sparsely populated and geographically spread out. The infrastructure required for 5G, including new cell towers and fiber optic networks, presents a major financial undertaking.

For 5G to be implemented, regulatory bodies need to allocate spectrum bands and ensure the technology aligns with public safety standards. The Bahamas’ Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) will play a critical role in the approval process and ensuring fair competition among telecom operators.  

The Bahamas is at an exciting crossroads in its telecommunications journey. With two major players—BTC and Aliv—competing to offer the best services, the push toward 5G is inevitable. While challenges remain, the introduction of 5G technology in the Bahamas holds the potential to elevate the nation's digital infrastructure, offering benefits for both residents and the millions of tourists who visit each year.

A Billion for China and China Mobile

As of September 2023 (last year), China had an estimated 750 million active 5G subscriptions. The share of the four operators, all of which have the Chinese government as a majority shareholder, is as shown in the picture above.

China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, surpassed the 1 billion subscriber mark at the end of July, according to the carrier’s latest available data. In the 5G segment, the Chinese carrier ended July with 527.9 million network customers, with a net addition of 13.7 million during the month. It ended the first half of the year with a total of 2.3 million 5G base stations, after adding 351,000 base stations in the period.

5G subscriptions explain an unproportionally low share of mobile data traffic - except for South Korea, Austria, Saudi Arabia, and China https://t.co/dJO6QUwOAx pic.twitter.com/8qelUhaplF

— Tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) July 8, 2024

According to their latest monthly subscriber stats, China’s ‘big three’ telcos – China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom – between them chalked up more than 20 million 5G net adds in July alone.

China Mobile is the country’s 5G growth engine, notching an additional 13.7 million subs during July. It took the operator’s 5G customer base to just under 528 million, which accounts for more than half of its total mobile subscriptions of just over 1 billion: China Mobile snagged its one billionth mobile subscriber in June.

China Telecom and China Unicom report the number of ‘5G packages’ rather than active 5G subscribers (which is the statistic that China Mobile now reports). This skews upwards China’s 5G number since those signed up to a 5G package (data bundle) can’t necessarily access 5G services, either due to insufficient network coverage or the lack of a suitable smartphone.

Putting that quibble to one side, China Telecom and China Unicom reported 5G package gains of 3.1 million and 2.9 million subscribers respectively during July. At the end of the month, China Telecom had nearly 340 million on 5G packages, accounting for 81% of its total mobile subscriber base. China Unicom had 279 million 5G package subscribers at that time, which, like China Telecom, represents around 81% of all its mobile subscriptions.

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: World's Largest Mobile Networks by Data Traffic - Q1 2024
• Operator Watch Blog: China Mobile Talks About Orchestration and Automation
• Operator Watch Blog: China Mobile on The Next Phase of 5G: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities
• Free 6G Training: Summary of 6G Activities from China
• Free 6G Training: China Mobile's view of how to define a 6G Network
• Free 6G Training: China Mobile on the 5G/6G Connectivity Transformation for Sustainability 

New Caledonia to Shutdown 2G and Launch 5G while Relying on 3G & 4G

New Caledonia, situated in the Southern Pacific, is a unique collectivity of France. A French collectivity is a territory that is governed by the French Constitution and has its own local government and regulatory authority. It operates independently from the European Union, exempting it from EU roaming regulations. As a result, international providers typically impose high roaming charges for usage within New Caledonia. Even French providers treat New Caledonia as an overseas destination, akin to certain other French overseas territories. Despite this, the archipelago boasts a robust telecommunications infrastructure, ensuring both residents and visitors have access to a diverse range of mobile services.

OPT-NC dominates New Caledonia's telecommunications landscape, holding a monopoly over fixed and mobile voice services, mobile internet, fixed broadband access, and wholesale services for other internet service providers.

The nation benefits from extensive 3G and LTE networks, contributing to one of the highest highest smartphone adoption rates in the Pacific region. Projections indicate that smartphone penetration will rise to 71% by 2025.

Mobile services operate on various frequencies depending on the location within the country: 2G operates on 900 MHz, while 3G operates on 900 MHz in rural areas and 2100 MHz in urban centers. 4G/LTE operates on 800, 1800, and 2100 MHz (bands 1, 3, 20).

L’Office des Postes et Télécommunications de Nouvelle-Calédonie (OPT-NC) stands as the exclusive operator, a public enterprise established in 2003. Its services encompass banking, postal, and telecommunications provisions, including landline, ADSL, and mobile phone services.

The 2G network is being phased out since 2022 and will cease to exist on 1st Jan 2025. The press release explains (translated from French):

OPT-NC has stopped deploying new 2G sites since 2019 and has been gradually shutting down the technology since the beginning of 2022 on sites in urban areas. The final shutdown is planned for 2025.

To confirm the definitive end of 2G technology, OPT-NC supports its customers by:

• Extending homogeneous 3G/4G coverage to the current 2G coverage; 
• Densifying the dimensioning of the mobile network so as to be able to properly absorb traffic;
• Deploying cellular Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, namely:
• the NB-IoT which will serve uses such as smart metering, smart city, smart agriculture;
• the CAT-M1 which is a network capable of responding to complex issues, mobility or real time. It will provide the same level of service as 2G for uses such as vehicle tracking.

OPT, in conjunction with the government of New Caledonia, is progressing with the implementation of private 5G networks. Earlier this year marked the initial stride toward integrating "private 5G" networks into industrial sectors within New Caledonia.

Olivier Amat, the director of telecommunications at OPT, elucidated the organization's strategy strategy regarding 5G. He recounted the evolution from 2G to 4G before delving into the potentials of 5G: "With speeds of up to 10Gbps, support for up to 100 times more connected devices per coverage area, a service life of up to 10 years for low-power IoT device batteries, 99.999% availability, 5 milliseconds latency, and 100% coverage." This progression serves as a testament to the advancements, leaving the limitations of 4G behind. Following some technical and tactical intricacies along with "ergotical" definitions, Olivier disclosed plans for local deployment of the technology, culminating with a compelling statistic: on average, each individual now consumes twice as much data in a single week as they did throughout the entirety of 2010.

Meanwhile Google is trying to make inroads into New Caledonia, due to its strategic geography in the Indo-Pacific region, where China and the US are waging a battle of influence over subsea internet cables.

French authorities recently said they had lifted a ban ban in New Caledonia on TikTok, which they suspect of fuelling recent unrest in the French Pacific territory. The government believes the app was being used by those opposed to French rule to communicate and organise violent protests.

South Korea has Nationwide 5G Coverage

Back in April, the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced that South Korea had nationwide 5G coverage. Just as a comparison, South Korea is about 2.4 times smaller than United Kingdom with a population of 52 million vs 68 million. 

Sweden is 4x times larger, 450,000 square kilometers, and according to @PTSse Sweden had 9,119 5G base stations in October 2023 - across all three networks. https://t.co/ml9hOneZg7

— Tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) April 19, 2024

Tefficient compares it with Sweden, which is four times bigger but has a far lower number of base stations compared to that of South Korea. 

While the OpenSignal report from late last year wasn't that impressive regarding the 5G availability, it would be good to compare it with the next one whenever released. 

Finally, here are other couple of charts from Tefficient highlighting the 5G data traffic growth and the subscription growth from South Korea:

And it may be that the growth in total mobile data traffic of South Korea has stopped growing as a result. October 2023 is still the highest point. https://t.co/SOqlJqRiif pic.twitter.com/jhVm8ZZGGK

— Tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) June 17, 2024

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: Is South Korea Losing its 5G Crown?
• Operator Watch Blog: 5G Network Sharing using MOCN for Rural South Korea
• Operator Watch Blog: Wi-Fi and 5G Status in South Korea
• Operator Watch Blog: South Korea's Ministry promotes Wi-Fi 6, says WiFi is like 5G
• Private Networks Technology Blog: Private 5G and their Real-world Use Cases in South Korea
• Free 6G Training: South Korea's MSIT Launches the K-Network 2030 Strategy
• Free 6G Training: 6G Public-Private Collaboration in the Republic of Korea 

Panama to get Public and Private 5G in 2024

Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. Panama is known as a transit country because of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal, a famous feat of human engineering, cuts through its center, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to create an essential shipping route.

According to GSMA Intelligence, Panama had 5.34 million cellular mobile connections at the beginning of 2024. However, it's important to recognize that many individuals globally use more than one mobile connection—such as having one for personal use and another for work—so it's common for the number of mobile connections to surpass the total population.

GSMA Intelligence reports that in January 2024, mobile connections in Panama represented 118.6 percent of the population. Between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024, the number of mobile connections in Panama decreased by 6,999, a decline of 0.1 percent. Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 5.34 million cellular mobile connections in Panama at the start of 2024.

GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in Panama were equivalent to 118.6 percent of the total population in January 2024. The number of mobile connections in Panama decreased by 6,999 (-0.1 percent) between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024.

Operator Digicel is featured in the most recent report by OpenSignal on Panama however Panama’s ICT regulator Asep will terminate operator Digicel's concession due to a failure to find a buyer for its assets and keep the contract valid.

Digicel has spectrum in the 1900MHz and 700MHz bands, as well as a network involving over 700 sites, covering 80% of the population. However Digicel exited Panama in 2022, claiming it was unable to compete in a market dominated by Tigo and C&W, after a Claro and C&W Panamá merger received the green light.

But law mandates that the country must have at least three mobile phone operators to guarantee competition. To attract at least one other player, Asep is planning an update of its telecoms law to simplify procedures, promote competition and create new business models to facilitate infrastructure and spectrum sharing.

Meanwhile second largest operator Cable & Wireless Panama (+Móvil) will be implementing a pilot test in a controlled environment with the fifth generation of mobile network technology (5G) in the national market.  +Móvil will be carrying out pilot tests using the 5G network in the 3.5 GHz band , with the aim of evaluating results that allow it to provide solutions to selected companies. 

The tests also include projects with strategic allies in the retail sector, implementing an extended 5G LAN network for video surveillance systems in distribution and storage centers. Another pilot project is being carried out in one of the main ports in Panama, where remote control platforms will be managed through the 5G Wi-Fi network.

Hoy más que nunca, reiteramos nuestro compromiso de inversión constante para que la mejor y más moderna red, esté siempre contigo. 💪🏽💫
¡CRECEMOS CONTIGO PANAMÁ! pic.twitter.com/lxJRao16kQ

— Tigo Panamá (@TigoPanama) July 24, 2024

Tigo as of January 2023 reportedly had 2.4 million mobile subscriptions in Panama, plus an additional 469,000 fiber customers.

Tigo Panama has pledged $100 million towards the modernizing and expansion of its network this year. This latest spend comes on top of the $475m that Tigo has invested in the country since Millicom International Cellular closed the takeover of Cable Onda in December 2018.

Tigo's latest investments will be used to increase its LTE capacity in the country to new areas, which currently sits at 95 percent.

According to the company, this part of the network is already prepped for the implementation of 5G. The company will also increase its fiber footprint, with Tigo saying that it will deploy fiber-optic networks to 90,000 homes in Puerto Armuelles, Colon City, Panama City, ​​Penonome, Azuero, and San Miguelito.

According to Bnamericas, the Panama canal authority (ACP) expects to finish deployment of a private 5G network around the end of this fiscal year, in September-October. The mobile infrastructure is currently in the installation and pilot testing phase, Augusto Sánchez, ACP interconnectivity manager, said during an event hosted by the Organization of American States' (OAS) Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (Citel) in Panama. ACP is working on a private network directly with an equipment provider, regulator Asep previously told BNamericas. The aim is to implement the mobile network throughout ACP's areas of operations. 

World's Largest Mobile Networks by Data Traffic - Q1 2024

Last year, India became the most populous country in the world. India's population stood at slightly over 1.428 billion, edging past China's population of 1.425 billion people. India and China's combined population is one third that of the whole world. As a result it won't come as a surprise that the operators with most data consumption in their networks are the ones from India and China.

At the end of Q1 2024, Reliance Jio was the operator with largest mobile data traffic flow through its network. China Mobile was just behind. 

Here's an interesting stat too: The monthly usage per AirFibre (FWA) subscription is 390 GB, 30% *higher* than for a JioFiber subscription. https://t.co/MGamLJE6xm

— Tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) April 22, 2024

As Tefficient reported, Jio says that 5G's share of traffic is 28%, the rest being 4G as it doesn't have 2G/3G network. Another interesting stat was that the monthly usage per AirFibre (FWA) subscription was 390 GB, 30% higher than for a JioFiber subscription.

You can do a comparison with Q4 2022 numbers available here.