Telia is launching two 5G stations at Klaipeda FEZ

On Friday, Telia launched the next generation 5G connection in Klaipėda Free Economic Zone (FEZ), the territory of which covers more than 412 ha. More than 100 companies from 18 countries of the world established in the FEZ will be able to use Telia’s non-commercial 5G connection for free. 

The two 5G mobile stations launched in Klaipėda FEZ complemented the other eleven Telia’s 5G stations, which have been operating in city centres of Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda since November.

What surprises will Lithuanians bring?

“We already see a variety of uses for 5G in the world, from robots in underground mines, self-driving trucks to salmon feeding. Therefore, we did not hesitate to accept FEZ’s offer to install 5G connection for businesses operating there, and now we are looking forward to seeing what new, useful and perhaps even unexpected ways of use of 5G Lithuanian entrepreneurs will come up with,” says Daniel Karpovič, Head of Business Customer Department at Telia.

Eimantas Kiudulas, Director of Klaipėda FEZ, said that investments in smart solutions that would meet the needs of new investors, employees and the society, was one of strategies of the FEZ. E. Kiudulas revealed that today’s investors show an active interest in and implement industrial automation and robotization solutions, seeking for both innovative products and efficient processes, therefore the most advanced infrastructure is extremely important to such companies.

“We are already developing and implementing such solutions as smart lighting, security measures, air and traffic flow monitoring systems or smart parking ourselves, and 5G comes in very handy for that. However, 5G will bring even more opportunities for investors. For example, 5G is very important to Dancer bus manufacturers for managing fleet, telemetry and other solutions. We will learn from technology vendors, search for new solutions which we do not even know about today, offer solutions to manufacturing companies, and encourage and support their initiatives. 5G is not only a technology, but also a certain message about our society’s receptivity to innovation, which investors appreciate a lot,” says E. Kiudulas.

According to him, 5G will offer yet another competitive advantage to Klaipėda FEZ, therefore the company managing the territory will seek to attract companies that would like to test and to develop new solutions with 5G technology.

Eglė Songailienė, Head of the development agency Klaipėda ID, agreed that 5G is good news to investors. According to her, one of the goals of Klaipėda’s economic development strategy is to become a center of excellence for advanced industry.

“Therefore, 5G connection being launched in the largest business and production area in the region should contribute to a new impetus for automation and robotization of Klaipėda industry, while representatives of advanced production will consider this technology a great advantage,” E. Songailienė claims.

Best connection – straight to the device

Telia 5G stations installed right next to the FEZ territory were set up so that they can ensure the best connection and data transfer speed for businesses located there. They use Massive-MIMO technology, which allows to increase connection speed and to optimally direct radio waves in the direction where there is an active 5G device at a given moment.

Non-commercial Telia’s 5G connection currently operates both in the centres of the three largest Lithuanian cities, and in the FEZ, which means that both residents and businesses can test it for free.

Telia will start providing commercial next-generation 5G mobile services in Lithuania after the auction for 5G radio frequencies, which is scheduled to take place next year.

D. Karpovič mentioned that Telia plans to retain 5G connection in the territory of Klaipėda FEZ even after it receives commercial frequencies.

“There already is a need for 5G connection in Lithuania and it will intensify in the future. In response to the need, the number of 5G stations will increase even further next year, so that even more businesses and residents can use the next-generation connection”, Telia’s representative predicts.

Tested by more than a thousand

More than a thousand people already tested Telia’s 5G connection in Lithuania, and at least several hundred residents use it every day. Testers of the new technology used 20 terabytes (TB) of data in the first month alone.

The actual mobile data download speed in Telia 5G network is up to 1.9 Gb / s, the upload speed is up to 200 Mb / s, and latency – up to 10 milliseconds.

Technology testing frequencies provided by the Lithuanian Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT) have been used for non-commercial 5G connection service. The National Public Health Center issued Telia with permits to install 13 next-generation mobile base stations.

Telia has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Swedish company Ericsson for upgrading mobile network and developing 5G. Over the next three years, Telia plans to upgrade a total of about 2 000 base stations in Lithuania using Ericsson equipment.