Bulgaria taking small steps towards 5G

Bulgaria has three major physical network providers in 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE:

A1 Bulgaria formerly known as Mtel (Мтел), owned by Telekom Austria
Telenor (Теленор): formerly known as Globul, owned by PPF Group
Vivacom (Виваком): taken over by Russian investors in 2015

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The country has good 2G and 3G coverage over 95% of their area. 2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G on 2100 MHz like in most of Europe. 4G/LTE has been started by all operators on 1800 MHz (B3) only, added now by 2100 MHz (B1) and 900 MHz (B8).

All 3

A1 Bulgaria is owned by Telecom Austria and was rebranded in 2018 from Mtel (Мтел), and before that Mobitel (Мобилтел).

A1 Bulgaria  has commenced trials of 5G technology, following the activation of one base station at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The trial, utilising spectrum in the 3.6GHz band and equipment provided by Nokia, will run for six months. The operator is aiming to commence commercial operations over its 5G network in 2020.




In 2013 Telenor (part of PPF) from Norway acquired Globul from Cosmote in Greece. In 2014 they changed their logo and name from Globul to Telenor. In 2018 Telenor sold its Bulgarian network to the Czech PPF Group.They started 4G/LTE in 2015 on 1800 MHz (band 3) covering 75% of population in 2016.

Telenor commenced its series of practical 5G technology tests by introducing the first remote medical exam over 5G in Bulgaria. The examination of a patient was held by Prof. Asen Baltov, Executive Director of “N. I. Pirogov” Hospital, who was at the Telenor headquarters in Sofia,
During the event, Telenor also made its first 5G video call in Bulgaria. Telenor also intends to  perform demonstrations of 5G technology beyond Sofia covering numerous other geographic locations across Bulgaria. These tests will be related to virtual reality and the streaming of video content and gaming which will be made publicly available. To make this possible, Telenor will use Huawei equipment, which includes both fixed base stations, as well as a mobile base station that can be transported across the country.




Vivacom (vivatel or BTC, BTK) is the 3rd provider in the country, but still has a good coverage in 3G in Bulgaria. In 2015 they were sold to Russian-backed Spas Roussev.

4G/LTE started in 2016 on 1800 MHz (B3) in the towns of Sofia, Pernik and Vratsa. The 4G network was extended to Varna, Bourgas, Ruse and Plovdiv. The operator has the country’s largest towns within its LTE footprint and 2100 MHz band is added.

In other 5G developments the European Commission has stated that the Bulgarian and Greek transport ministers, Ivaylo Moskovski and Nikos Papas, and Tatjana Matić of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia, have signed an agreement at the Digital Assembly 2018 in Sofia to develop an experimental 5G cross-border corridor that will test driverless vehicles.

They agreed to work together on the Thessaloniki – Sofia – Belgrade corridor, which will provide a technologically neutral hub for industry, research centres, academia and any other stakeholders for testing and evaluating innovative mobility technologies.

Mr Moskovski stated that Bulgaria is now preparing its infrastructure to accommodate a 5G network for ‘connected driving’. European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel added that “we have agreed that the digital transformation has its challenges, such as cyber attacks and the online spread of misinformation” and that “people need to trust and be able to take advantage of this digitalisation.”

Telenor-Axiata Merger expected

According to recent reports Telenor, the Norwegian telecoms operator is proposing to merge its Asian assets with those of Malaysian rival Axiata, creating a group with 300m customers from Thailand to Indonesia. 

The merged group would have $13bn in annual revenues and be the biggest telecoms operator in south-east Asia while the deal would be one of the largest transactions on the continent outside of China or Japan. 

Telenor would own 56.5 per cent of the combined entity while Axiata, whose main shareholder is the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, would hold 43.5 per cent under the proposed deal, which would involve no cash changing hands. 

Telenor, majority-owned by the Norwegian government, has sold off a number of stakes in central and eastern Europe as it seeks to concentrate on the Nordic and Asian regions after being embroiled in a damaging bribery scandal in Russia. They agreed to buy a majority stake in Finnish telecoms challenger DNA last month for €1.5bn, and makes more than half of its revenues from Asia. 

Telenor and Axiata said they both expected cost savings of $5bn from the proposed merger but gave no breakdown as to how and when they would be achieved. The merged company could take part in regional consolidation and would operate about 60,000 towers across Asia with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of about $5.5bn before any synergies. 

Both companies hope to conclude the deal in the third quarter of 2019 after approval by regulators and shareholders. The new company would have its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and be listed on the Malaysian stock exchange as well as an unnamed international market.

Johor Bahru Internet Exchange chief peering officer Weng Yew Wong said the product rationalisation from the potential merger may lead to reduction of choices and available packages for consumers.

Weng said the potential merger was nothing but a financial rationalisation exercise.

He explained that given the upcoming 5G capital expenditure and the fact that many of the operating markets are fast becoming mature and saturated, the fastest way to deliver shareholder value was to cut cost by merging operation and combining forces. According to Weng: 

“Usually price drop will only be realised when a new player is introduced into the market. It is unlikely that there will be any drastic change in the broadband pricing as a result of the reduction in the number of player in the market.” 

Telenor’s Asian footprint includes Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar. Axiata has operating companies in Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and the tower business edotco. Pro-forma revenue and pre-synergy EBITDA of the combined entity is approximately USD 13 billion (around NOK 113 billion) and USD 5.5 billion (around NOK 48 billion). Axiata’s mobile operations in Bangladesh, Robi, will continue to be separately and independently managed by Axiata.

The merger will mean the new company will have operations in nine countries with a total population of close to one billion people. They will have close to 300 million customers and become one of Asia’s largest mobile infrastructure companies operating approximately 60,000 towers across Asia. The merged company will have its operational headquarters in Kuala Lumpur with the majority of functions and is planned to be listed at an international stock exchange as well as on Bursa Malaysia. 

The two companies’ Malaysian businesses — Celcom for Axiata and Digi for Telenor — would also be merged, creating the company’s largest mobile operator.

The user base of  Celcom, as of December 2018 was 9.08 million mobile subscribers. Digi on the other hand still has 11.25 million subscribers despite a significant decrease in numbers last year. If we combine Celcom’s numbers with Digi’s numbers in a post-merger scenario that is still a user base of over 20 million, which is more than half of Malaysia’s population of roughly 31 million. 

The potential that is Pakistan

Its been an eventful five years for Pakistan’s mobile industry. The South Asian country has seen a dramatic increase in mobile broadband penetration and the introduction of 3G/4G services has impacted the lives of millions. 

In December 2017, 3G/4G subscribers in Pakistan numbered 47 Million.  According to a recent report issued by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), at the end of December 2018, there were 62 million 3G/4G Subscribers in Pakistan with penetration rate of 29.55%. That is a very significant increase indeed.

However in a country so large and populous, their mobile broadband market is still considered to be at an early stage of development with penetration well below most other Asian countries. Strong growth is predicted over the next five years to 2023, driven by further adoption of 4G and eventually 5G services. The uptake of 3G/4G has been quite impressive that has given the government and the mobile operators the confidence to look forward to 5G.

Presently four mobile operators provide services to the country. Here are there most recent market shares/figures. 

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Jazz (created by the merger of Mobilink and Warid) is the current market leader with the largest number of subscribers. In 2016/7 they merged with Warid and adopted Warid's 4G network and offer their 4G/LTE to all of their customers as a single brand. In 2017 they received an own license for 4G on 1800 MHz (band 3). Their tagline is “Dunya ko Bataa Do” (tell the world) and their partnering with travel vlogger Eva Zu Beck to showcase their coverage and the culture of Pakistan has been a popular advertising strategy. 

Norwegian owned Telenor is the third largest operator in the country. They cover more than 80% of Pakistan's population in urban and rural areas with a network of over 11,000 cell sites of which 80% are 3G and 70% are 4G enabled. 

4G/LTE was started in August 2016 in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Sawaton on 850 MHz (band 5) and has spread to other major towns. Telenor was the first network to enable VoLTE and officially launch 4.5G (LTE Advanced) in Pakistan. It has done so by aggregating two LTE bands, FDD-LTE Band 5 (850 MHz) and FDD-LTE Band 3 (1800 MHz), a portion of which has been re-farmed for LTE, it was previously used on the 2G (GPRS/EDGE) network. Telenor's new LTE-A network will initially be available in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Zong in Pakistan is owned by China Mobile Pakistan. It has a limited network on 3G in many towns but was the first to launch  4G/LTE on 1800 MHz (band 3) in the centers of 7 major cites in 2014. It presently has over 9 million 4G subscribers, more than any other network.  
According to Zong when it comes to 4G coverage, subscribers, internet speed and innovation, no other network can reach the heights of Pakistan’s No.1 data network. They more than 10,000 4G towers with plans in place to launch 5,000 more 4G sites in the next 3 years.

Ufone owned by Etisalat is the fourth operator in the country. It has 3G network coverage in over 9,000 locations and across all major highways of Pakistan. There is no 4G/LTE yet.
A recent Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) survey found Ufone takes 5.73 seconds to connect a call, the fastest among all networks in the country.




2018 was a great year for Pakistan’s Technology industry with substantial growth and development in IT Sector and for 3G/4G penetration. Supported by growing tech-savvy population, increasing businesses and rising internet penetration, Pakistan is destined to become one of the fastest growing economy by 2030 and has the potential to be one of the  leading digital economies. There is a lot of promise in the IT sector of Pakistan with young population turning to computers and other digital technologies creating a huge market for local and foreign investors.