In another example of how operator business models are changing as we approach wide-scale 5G rollout, Vodafone Romania has transferred its passive infrastructure to another Vodafone company.

Romania’s telecoms market continues to evolve under the dynamics of competition and technological change. Alternative operators have launched competing services in the fixed-line voice market, with the provision of bundled services being a key driver.

Ukrainian operator Kyivstar has announced plans to launch voice over LTE (VoLTE) on its network by 2021.

CETIN, which owns and operates the largest electronic communications network in the Czech Republic, covering 99.6 percent of the population, has entered into a co-investment agreement with T-Mobile on the deployment of an FTTH network.

Russian operator MTS has launched an outdoor pilot 5G network zone in partnership with Ericsson and Qualcomm.

Ukraine’s Kyivstar has extended its 900MHz 4G LTE services to all 25 regions in the country four months after launching the offering.

Lithuania’s antitrust regulator has granted conditional clearance to mobile provider Bite’s proposed acquisition of the state-owned business MEZON.

Russia’s State Radio Frequencies Commission has decreed that all 5G equipment used for networks in the country must be homegrown.

A1 Bulgaria’s 5G network is now live in the country’s capital of Sofia.

Hungarian operator Magyar Telekom claimed it was the first operator in the country to expand 5G services using the 2,100MHz frequency band via dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology.

Slovakia’s 5G spectrum auction has concluded, bringing in a total of €100.23 million (US$119 million).

Iliad announced Polish operator Play’s shareholders accepted its public tender offer, with the operator also reorganising its board of directors to reflect the incoming owners, further completing the acquisition.

Ericsson confirmed it won a five-year contract to supply gear for Czech operator CETIN’s 5G network, claiming the upgrade will deliver billions of euros to the country’s GDP.

Hungary’s telecoms regulator Nemzeti Media- es Hirkozlesi Hatosag (NMHH) stated the Metropolitan Court dismissed mobile operator DIGI’s case, which opposed its exclusion from the country’s 5G auction earlier this year.

Lithuania’s Communications Regulatory Authority (Rysiu Reguliavimo Tarnyba, RRT) scheduled a sale of 5G spectrum in the first quarter of 2021.

Estonia’s first commercial 5G network is now live, with Telia Eesti launching services in the city centres of Tallinn, Tartu and Parnu.

A1 Bulgaria, part of the A1 Telekom Austria Group, has announced a partnership with software and service company Amdocs to modernize and digitize its contract management and document life cycle.

Telia Lithuania (also known as Telia Lietuva), the country’s biggest telecommunications and IT company, has announced the launch of a 5G mobile network in Lithuania.

Orange SA has announced plans to buy a controlling stake in a major Romanian telecommunications company.

A further example of the continuing drive to meet the growing demand for mobile communications on metro services comes from Belarus where operator MTS has announced that it will provide communication for passengers on the new line of the Minsk metro.

Romanian-owned operator DIGI Hungary collected 80,000 petitions against its exclusion from Hungary’s next 5G auction.

Employees of Kosovo Telecom threatened the government with protests and disruption to telecoms services, if the government does not take action against a private company it accuses of funnelling money.

Hrvatski Telekom, a leading operator in Croatia, has claimed a first with the launch of a commercial 5G network, which, it says, places Croatia alongside developed European and world markets.

Bulgaria has signed a 5G security declaration with the United States in a bid to protect its communications networks.

Swedish vendor Ericsson beat rivals to supply equipment for Czech operator CETIN’s 5G network, Reuters reported.

Vodafone Hungary is boosting its 5G network in Budapest with the addition of around 200 new base stations.

The data centre market continues to be a busy place – as indicated by recent news from both Poland and Croatia.

Nokia and Bulgarian operator Vivacom penned a deal to upgrade the latter’s fibre broadband network and connect customers to new heights of high-speed gigabit broadband services, while also laying the foundations for a commercial 5G launch.

It’s no surprise that more 5G pilots are under way – most recently in Brazil and Slovakia. However, these two pilots do raise a few questions about what this means for the participants and for spectrum availability.

Slovenia’s telecoms regulator AKOS has slammed the government’s sudden decision to fold the organisation into a larger watchdog.