ZAGREB, 21 Oct 2021 - The Hrvatski Telekom (HT), a leading telecom in Croatia, on Thursday presented capabilities of the 5G+ network, which provides a speed of 4 Gbit/s and network response times of only ten milliseconds.

However, its commercial use in Croatia is not going to be possible for yet another year or two due to the lack of adequate devices and telephones.

"5G+ network is based on 26 GHz frequencies and will cover areas that require the best network performance, and will provide 4 to 8 times higher capacity in areas with the highest requirements for the use of data services," the company says on its website.

HT noted that 5G+ was only just emerging in Europe and that Croatia was among the first countries where it is being developed while a member of the Management Board of Hrvatski Telekom and CTIO, Boris Drilo, underscored that that technology already has been existing in America for several years now, adding that smart telephones for that technology exist only in Korea.

Recalling that HT had purchased a frequency spectrum for 5G, Drilo explained that currently, 5G operates on the spectra of 700 Mhz and 3.6 GHz, whereas 5G+ is implemented on a spectrum of 26 GHz.

"With 5G+ network performances we have shown today, we have demonstrated the exciting future we have with 5G technology. The e-mobility and EV segment is just one of the branches that will experience a full boom thanks to 5G. Due to the large spectrum width, the 26 GHz frequency band will be crucial in the future for achieving high capacities as well as high peak transmission speeds. This will enable the development of new customer services that will be able to use high capacity and ultra-low latency, such as, for example, campus networks for Industry 4.0," Drilo was quoted as saying. 

He underscored that the current technology will be faster and more reliable which is important for many segments in transport, electric vehicles, and filling stations.

That means faster and better connections for electric vehicles, smart traffic lights, parking, and e-filling stations of which there are currently 600 in Croatia, the head of HT's e-mobility project Dina Novosel said. Half of those stations are managed by HT, and with regard to the current amount of 2,000 electric vehicles, that is sufficient for the time being but it will have to be increased given the trends in the automobile industry.

5G however will not immediately accelerate and resolve everything and that will take some time.

According to HT, currently, there are about 100,000 5G phones in use in its network in Croatia.

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ZAGREB, June 6, 2020 - The Town of Hvar on the southern Adriatic island of the same name has suspended the introduction of 5G technology until an independent and impartial study proves that such technology has no negative impact on humans and the environment, the Town Council decided unanimously earlier this week.

The decision will be submitted to the government and the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), which is required to distribute it to all relevant stakeholders operating in the Town of Hvar, the local authorities said on 4 June.

However, in the meantime, the HAKOM regulator has stated that it has not yet received the decision in writing and therefore it cannot comment on its contents of the decision.

Nevertheless, the regulator underscores that any restriction of the development of electronic communication infrastructure for public services is not in compliance with the regulations.

Based on this decision, the Town Council will set up a task force to look over the next six months into a possible causal link between all sources of radiation and cancer.

The decision was put on the Town Council agenda on the initiative of an informal group of citizens following the information that Hvar was included among 13 towns and one island for which HAKOM has issued temporary licenses to test the 5G network.

The decision made by the Town of Hvar took into account the results of a survey conducted by the World Health Organization, the fact that the environment minister for the Brussels-Capital region, Celine Fremault, blocked a 5G rollout in the region until it was shown how this technology affected human health and the environment, the European Parliament resolution on health concerns associated with electromagnetic fields, the Environmental Health Action Plan for Europe, and the Council of Europe resolution on the potential dangers of electromagnetic fields and their effect on the environment. 

On the other hand, HAKOM warns that there are more and more "conspiracy theories" concerning this issue.

HAKOM recalls that it has requested opinions of researchers and experts from relevant institutions on the 5G technology's impact on the environment and the public health and in brief, the conclusions drawn from those opinions are that the impact of this state-of-the-art technology is similar as the impact of previous technologies.