The Croatian government has chosen Osijek to be the country’s first 5G city.
In a statement, the regulator HAKOM says that as a result Slavonia will become the first region in which 5G services are offered commercially, with commercial work on 5G technology in Osijek expected by the end of this year.
It adds that under the 5G EU Action Plan, as part of the Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, many measures are provided for the introduction of 5G technology in member states.
Part of the plan was to identify at least one city in a member state as a suitable candidate for the deployment of commercial 5G technology and to implement 5G networks and services in that city by the end if this year.
The expert group of HAKOM and all three mobile operators completed analysis of the candidates (Osijek, Rijeka, Karlovac and Bjelovar) for the 5G city last year and Osijek proved to be the most suitable.
HAKOM concludes by saying that the implementation of commercial 5G services by the end of 2020 will require the prior allocation of new radio frequency spectrum to operators, which is expected in the second half of this year.
