Bulgaria Enjoys a Fantastic 5G Experience

Bulgaria’s telecom market was for some years affected by the difficult macroeconomic climate, as well as by relatively high unemployment and a shrinking population. These factors continue to hobble investment in the sector, though revenue growth has returned since 2019. There still remains pressure on revenue growth, however, with consumers migrating from fixed-line voice telephony to mobile and VoIP alternatives, while the volume of SMS and MMS traffic has been affected by the growing use of alternative OTT messaging services.

The mature mobile market has effective competition between A1 Bulgaria, Yettel (branded as Telenor Bulgaria before March 2022, the Telenor Group’s local unit that had been sold to the PPF Group in August 2018), and the incumbent operator Vivacom. Competition intensified following the implementation of a streamlined mobile number portability process. In addition, customer preference for bundled services has put pressure on pricing and encouraged operators to offer generous voice and data packages. This in turn has impacted on operator revenue.

Vivacom was sold to United Group in April 2020, following European Commission approval. The company is investing in network upgrades and its development of services based on 5G have stimulated other market players to invest in their own service provision. A1 Bulgaria and Vivacom both launched commercial 5G services in 2020.

Most European nations have a median 5G download speed below 200 Mbps. Bulgaria, however, shines as a 5G leader, and Sweden, Cyprus, Finland, Denmark & Norway excel as high performers.

Learn more about Europe's 5G landscape: https://t.co/wSyJ4Ze7wp pic.twitter.com/Lsio7cYzql

— Speedtest by Ookla (@Speedtest) March 15, 2023

All three operators have a good 2G and 3G coverage over 95% of the country. 2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G on 2100 MHz like in most of Europe. 4G/LTE is supported by all operators on 1800 MHz (B3) only, added now by 2100 MHz (B1) and 900 MHz (B8).

According to the most recent Open Signal report  A1 wins 12 awards out of a possible 13 — nine shared victories and three outright wins. A1 notably comes at least joint first in every single award category for overall and 5G experience, winning three speed awards outright (Download Speed Experience, 5G Download Speed and 5G Upload Speed), and shares Consistent Quality with Yettel.

A1 reported on its website that it has completed the integration of a Standalone (SA) 5G network consisting of a Nokia-supplied Radio Access Network (RAN) and Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core backbone network, with the latter vendor taking a lead role in the integration project. Todor Tashev, Network & Services Senior Director at A1 Bulgaria, confirmed that 5G SA solutions are now available for B2B customers, who can ‘take advantage of the new technology to automate processes and solve complex problems’. The operator also highlighted the development of Private 5G SA network services as a key element of the Industry 4.0 concept, alongside massive machine-to-machine/IoT connectivity and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) supported by 5G SA’s near-real-time transmission.

Vivacom  claim to own the best developed network in Bulgaria. They are the only telecom operator in the country that provides converged solutions through terrestrial, copper and satellite infrastructure, a mobile network and public Internet. They maintain the only networked international networking center in Bulgaria, the network management center and the largest real-time data storage and booking center. Vivacom owns its own infrastructure, which includes: a 5G network, they launched the first Bulgaria 5G network in all 27 district centers of the country in September, 2020. The fifth-generation network provides higher speed, lower latency, and more connected devices, which is an important condition for the development of areas such as telemedicine, digital education, gaming, automated production, and others.  According to the most recent Open Signal Report  Vivacom was the outright winner for 5G availability. 

Yettel  has over 3 million subscribers in Bulgaria, they believe in putting the customer first, Yettel's mission is clear: to help people achieve balance in life. During its 20-year history in the Bulgarian market, the company (operating until March 2022 under Telenor brand) has built a strong reputation as a pioneer in the field of wireless networks and beyond, launching the first commercial 4G network in Bulgaria in 2015, the first VoLTE service in 2018 and paving the way for the development of 5G with the first test of a 5G network in the country.