5G is Growing Slowly in Croatia

Croatia, a picturesque country with a vibrant telecommunications sector, has a competitive mobile market that has evolved significantly over the years. With increasing mobile penetration, enhanced network infrastructure, and a growing demand for data services, the mobile landscape in Croatia is an interesting one to explore. Having written about the imminent launch of 5G in 2020, we were hoping for a lot more progress with 5G rollout so far.

Croatia's telecom market is largely controlled by the incumbent operator Hrvatski Telekom, along with the local branches of United Group and Telekom Austria. However, competition remains strong, supported by several smaller operators. The regulator has played a key role in fostering this competitive environment by implementing measures to facilitate network access and promoting regional licensing. Notably, two recent 5G licenses were allocated specifically for regional rather than national operators.

The mobile market consists of three major network operators (MNOs). These providers have been focused on increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) by encouraging prepaid customers to switch to postpaid plans and boosting revenue from mobile data services. While 5G is now widely available, the full impact of the technology will become apparent after 2021, following the distribution of licenses across various frequency bands. This spectrum, previously reserved for GSM, 3G, and LTE services, will play a key role in the government’s national broadband plan extending to 2027, which aligns with the European Commission’s goals to achieve gigabit connectivity by the end of 2025.

2G on Hrvatski Telekom and A1 is on 900 MHz and Telemach on 1800 MHz, 3G is on 900 MHz and 2100 MHz with all three providers. 4G/LTE is available on bands 1, 3, 7 and 20 (800, 1800, 2100 and 2700 MHz) with carrier aggregation available on all three providers. In 2021 all three operators are rolling out 5G. Hrvatski Telekom and A1 have started on n28 (700 MHz) and n78 (3500 MHz), and are now open for all Hrvatski Telekom prepaid packages and the unlimited A1 prepaid package, but not yet on Telemach and MVNOs.

Hrvatski Telekom (HT) is the largest mobile operator in Croatia, controlling a significant portion of the market. As part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, HT benefits from the vast expertise and resources of one of Europe’s largest telecom companies. HT has consistently led the market in terms of both subscribers and network quality.

Recently Rijeka Gateway has announced a 5G standalone (SA) connectivity partnership with Hrvatski Telekom (HT), marking the implementation of an advanced private 5G campus network.

Rijeka Gateway, which operates facilities at Croatia's largest port in Rijeka, is a joint venture between APM Terminals and ENNA Group. This development is entirely new, without any legacy LTE network infrastructure, which the company highlights as a key advantage, making it the first HT installation to use SA architecture.

Set to commence operations in 2025, Rijeka Gateway will utilize HT's public mobile network to support its primarily remotely operated electric equipment. The terminal emphasizes that its use of electric container handling equipment will significantly minimize environmental impact, reducing noise and pollution for the surrounding community.

The Croatian operator Hrvatski Telekom has already started shutting down their 3G network. Complete switch-off by end of Jan 2025https://t.co/I02prt7vL6https://t.co/nPdwOF8eOm

2G will continue to work as normal#2G #3G #3G4G5G #2G3Gshutdown pic.twitter.com/R7R2nkAbJe

— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) October 6, 2024

HT has already started shutting down their 3G network and plan to have their 3G completely switched-off by end of Jan. 2025. Their 2G network will still be around for a while.

A1 Croatia (formerly known as Vipnet) is the second-largest mobile operator in the country. A1 is part of A1 Telekom Austria Group, which operates in several European countries. A1 Croatia has positioned itself as a strong competitor to HT, especially in terms of pricing and customer service.

Telemach is the third provider in Croatia. It was called Tele2 before it was sold to a local cable operator. They started 4G/LTE in 2016 already covering 90% and opened it to all prepaid plans. In cities coverage is similar to HT and A1. In rural areas (highways outside cities and unpopulated areas) Telemach roams on Hrvatski Telekom without surcharges. After its acquisition by United Group in 2020, Telemach has been expanding its services and network to compete more aggressively with HT and A1.

The Croatian government and telecom operators have been working together to modernize the country’s mobile infrastructure, especially with the 5G rollout. Both HT and A1 have launched 5G networks, covering major cities such as Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka. Telemach has been somewhat slower in rolling out 5G but is catching up through significant infrastructure investments.

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: Croatia is Switching-On 5G 

Croatia is Switching-On 5G

 

The telecoms market in Croatia has been shaped by the country having joined the European Union in 2013, this resulted in market liberalisation and the creation of a regulatory environment conducive to competition. Alternative operators have entered the market and there is effective competition in the in the fixed-line, broadband and mobile markets.

The market has attracted international players including Telekom Austria and Tele2 Group, though the latter in mid-2019 sold its local unit Tele2 Croatia to United Group, a company with existing telecom and pay TV interests in the region. As a result, further investment and an expansion of Tele2 Croatia’s offerings are expected into 2020.

Croatia’s mobile market is served by three network operators, Hrvatski Telekom (owned by Deutsche Telekom), A1 Croatia (owned by Telekom Austria) and Tele2 (sold by the Swedish Tele2 to the United Group in 2019.)

There is also room for a small number of MVNOs. The network operators have focused on improving ARPU by encouraging prepaid subscribers to migrate to postpaid plans, and on developing revenue from customer use of mobile data services. To this end considerable investment is ongoing to upgrade network infrastructure, with the incumbent telco Hrvatski Telekom spearheading trials of 5G technologies and services.

Hrvatski Telecom (fomerly T-Mobile) is market leader with the widest coverage. They are followed by A1 which is holding P3 certificate in 2019. and finally Tele2 which has smaller network coverage but free roaming on Hrvatski Telekom in rural area. There is two MVNOs, Bonbon on Hrvatski Telekom and Tomato on A1.

2G on Hrvatski Telekom and A1 is on 900MHz and Tele2 on 1800 MHz, 3G on 900MHz and 2100 MHz all three providers. 4G/LTE is available from 2012., and bands are 1, 3, 7 and 20 with carrier aggregation available on all three providers. Tele2 is using only bands 1 and 3 for now, with plans.

 

Hrvatski Telekom is the market leader in the country with the widest coverage, covering more than 50% of all mobile network users in Croatia. HT mobile networks cover more than 98% of Croatian territory. Outside of the home network their users are covered by more than 200 GSM operators in their global roaming network.

Ericsson’s Croatian associated company has been selected by Croatian communications service provider Hrvatski Telekom as its sole supplier of 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and services until 2024.

Hrvatski Telekom has also tested dynamic spectrum sharing technology to support the rapid roll-out of 5G. Through the pilot, which was run over two years in areas of the city of Samobor, Hrvatski Telekom has enabled 5G technology on ten base stations in the 2.1GHz frequency band and five base stations in the 3.5 GHz band. They say this creates the largest 5G area in Croatia, in terms of speed and coverage.

Hrvatski Telekom said the simple and fast implementation of dynamic spectrum sharing technology was possible thanks to the recent modernisation of its mobile network, which was completed in February. Hrvatski Telekom invested more than HRK 1 billion (€130 million) into upgrading all the transmitters in its network to support 4G/LTE technology.

At the end of October, Hrvatski Telekom (HT) has switched on Croatia’s first commercial 5G network in parts of Zagreb, Rijeka, Split, Osijek, Samobor and Sveta Nedelja. The network is based on dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology, which enables the use of existing frequencies for 5G. Customers on selected tariffs and with a 5G-capable device can access 5G services at no extra charge until June 2021. The rollout of the 5G network is a continuation of activities on the construction of the network of the future which HT began to implement and test in March 2019.

A1 Croatia was rebranded from Vipnet in 2018 and is the 2nd largest provider in Croatia with approximately 2 million subscribers. 

A1 Croatia have invested in the development of 5G technology and was the first to demonstrate a speed greater than 20 Gbit/s in a live 5G network, which is an absolute speed record in the Croatian mobile segment.  The demonstrated speeds and capacities of 5G technology in the future will allow gigabit speeds across the entire territory of Croatia, which are the basic preconditions for digitalisation, consistent development and global competitiveness. They continue the development of the fastest mobile network of the new generation which allows their customers to reach internet speeds up to 750Mbps. 

A1 Hrvatska will enable access to the 5G network for its users in more than 70 towns across Croatia as of December this year, using DSH or dynamic spectrum sharing technology.

Tele2 is the 3rd provider in Croatia. They started 4G/LTE in 2016 already covering 90% and open to all prepaid plans. In cities coverage is similar to HT and A1. In rural areas (highways outside cities and unpopulated areas) Tele2 is automatically roaming on Hrvatski Telekom, without additional surcharges.

In 2020 Tele2 was sold to the United Group. So a brand change is likely to be ahead.