O2 Czech Republic will make the 5G network available in almost 60 cities by the end of June 2021.
Technical director Jan Hruška said that in addition to Prague, Brno, and other regional centers, residents of Děčín, Špindlerův Mlýn or Poděbrady will also be able to use 5G.
Together with CETIN, the operator started the replacement of radio technology and the modernization of the mobile network in March 2021. Ericsson was selected for implementation.
O2’s 5G network will be delivered via the 3.7GHz band using Massive MIMO 32T32R and 256QAM technologies.
The operator expects the network to be capable of achieving download and upload connection speeds of 600Mbps and 100MBps respectively, although Hruška noted that: “if the conditions of the frequency auction allow it, we are ready to increase the available speeds and the percentage of coverage.”
O2 Czech Republic’s CEO Jindřich Fremuth added: “The new generation of mobile network will offer up to ten times the connection speed of a commonly available 4G network. However, 5G is not just about faster downloads. In real-world customer traffic, we now want to test how the network works under load and elements of smart cities and in other strategic areas for the economy.”
O2 is the first mobile operator in the Czech Republic to start offering 5G services commercially. Competitors such as Vodafone and T-Mobile have already begun testing their 5G networks in various parts of the country.
