Telia Lietuva starts upgrading its mobile network using Ericsson equipment

Telia Lietuva starts installing next generation Ericsson mobile base stations throughout Lithuania. About 2,000 base stations will be installed over the next three years, making Telia Lietuva network more sustainable, secure and ready for commercial 5G deployment in the future.

'The current mobile network equipment meets today's needs and ensures Telia Lietuva leadership in the field of mobile communications, however, digital society will need even more data and speed in the nearest future. We were the first in Lithuania to install a 2G, 3G, 4G, and now 5G network. Now with Ericsson equipment, we are substantially updating the mobile technology network of all technologies in Lithuania. We invest heavily in making our services high quality, innovative and sustainable,' says Dan Strömberg, CEO of Telia Lietuva.

Ericsson equipment will be used throughout Telia Lietuva radio access network (RAN). A strategic partnership agreement was signed with this Swedish company at the end of last year, and now the company started actual work, having built the first Ericsson base stations near Vilnius.

Not only will Ericsson equipment improve the quality of the current 4G connection, but it will also ensure that the next generation 5G connection can be launched as soon as the necessary radio frequencies are available. Moreover, the use of electricity of Telia Lietuva new 5G connection per one Gb of transmitted traffic will be up to five times more efficient, which is especially important given the continuously growing data volumes and Telia Lietuva goal of achieving zero CO2 emissions in its activities by 2030.

Telia Lietuva carried out the first tests of Ericsson's equipment at the end of March, and now a pilot cluster of base stations is being installed in the northern part of Vilnius to test and adjust the equipment in real conditions. A network-wide upgrade, which will last for three years, will begin in May. Telia Lietuva specialists will conduct these works in cooperation with Eltel Networks, Telteka and Empower-Fidelitas.

When upgrading its base stations, Telia Lietuva will make every effort to ensure the availability of critical mobile services. However, in some cases, there may be short-term (lasting up to several hours) disruptions in mobile services or a slowdown in mobile internet. Users do not need to do anything about this, the services will work as usual or even better after the upgraded base station is turned on.

Since November last year, Telia Lietuva customers were the first in Lithuania to test next generation non-commercial 5G mobile connection in city centres of Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda, and since December - in the Klaipėda Free Economic Zone. Telia Lietuva will start providing commercial 5G mobile communication services in Lithuania having acquired the necessary frequencies at 5G frequency auctions to be held by CRA by the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, according to CRA measurement data, the average mobile Internet speed in Telia Lietuva 4G network was 85.06 Mb /s in 2020, which was 30 per cent and 87 per cent faster than that of its other two competitors, respectively.