Everything is Hunky-Dory in Austria as 5G Rollouts Gather Momentum

Austria has a highly developed telecommunications market, with a wide range of mobile operators offering services to consumers. The market is dominated by three major operators: A1 Telekom Austria, T-Mobile Austria, and Hutchison Drei Austria. These three companies provide the majority of mobile services to consumers in Austria. 

In common with other countries in the region, the operators as well as the government and regulator have focused on delivering improved telecom infrastructure. The government has a program to provide a national gigabit service by 2030, delivered by private enterprise though with some state funding. This is based on fibre networks supported by 5G, with the MNOs able to expand the reach of their 5G services following auctions held in March 2019 and September 2020. More recently, a plan has also been developed through to 2026 which would release additional spectrum in several bands to help increase network the capacity, and so improve the quality of services offered.

According to the most recent Open Signal report on Austria it was a two-horse race in the award table in Austria, with A1 and Magenta winning 10 and nine awards, respectively. A1 claims five awards outright — both overall speed and both consistency awards, along with Video Experience. Magenta is the sole winner of Games Experience, Voice App Experience, 5G Upload Speed and Availability — while operators jointly win the remaining five awards. 

The results in this report were based on measurements collected across all major mobile operators in Austria – 3, A1 and Magenta – over the period of 90 days between June 1, 2022 and August 29, 2022.

A1 has announced that they will shut off their 3G network on band 1 (2100 MHz) from Februrary 2023 (starting in Carinthia and Salzburg). The band 1 spectrum will be refarmed for 5G (going from 20 to 25 MHz of 5G on n1). The 3G network on band 1 (2100 MHz) and band 8 (900 MHz) will be shut off until the end of 2024. Drei has not made any indication yet about a 3G shutdown. A1 and Magenta agree that 2G will not be going anywhere any time soon.

A1 Telekom Austria is the market leader in Austria. The company was formed in 2010, following the merger of A1 Telekom Austria and mobilkom Austria. The company offers a wide range of mobile services, including voice, SMS, and data services, and has invested heavily in 5G infrastructure. A1 Telekom Austria also offers fixed-line services, including broadband and IPTV.

 4G/LTE is available on band 20 (800 MHz) nationwide, band 3 (1800 MHz) in smaller and bigger cities as well as band 7 (2600 MHz) in bigger cities, covering 98% of the population. 4G+/LTE-A carrier aggregation is available on cell sites which broadcast multiple 4G/LTE bands. 

In July 2021 A1 Telekom Austria has announced that its total number of 5G transmitters has increased to 2,000 across the country. The firm’s 5G network now covers almost 50% of the population across the country, including 80% of the capital Vienna.

According to Open Signal A1 has developed an end-to-end 5G network slicing proof of concept with Amdocs, which demonstrated management of 5G network slices and virtualized applications over public/private cloud and edge, along with its monetization potential. 

Magenta Telekom, which was formed in 2019 from the merger of mobile operator T-Mobile Austria and cableco UPC Austria is the second-largest mobile operator in Austria. The operator offers a range of mobile services to consumers, including voice, SMS, and data services. They have also invested heavily in 5G infrastructure, with a focus on providing high-speed data services to its customers.

Magenta has recently upgraded fixed broadband speeds for more than 500,000 existing customers. Through the upgrade, customers on low download rate plans will now be able to access speeds of 100Mbps, which has become the operator’s new entry-level plan, while other upgrades include from 100Mbps and 125Mbps to 150Mbps, from 150Mbps to 250Mbps and from 250Mbps to 300Mbps. The speed upgrade is being carried out on the firm’s HFC network and is at no additional cost for customers.

Magenta Telekom in Austria, formed by merger of T-Mobile and UPC is going to switch off 3G/UMTS starting 1 Jan 2024. Spectrum will be re-farmed for 4G/5G. 2G will continue to work - https://t.co/rofjhBDhwZ

FAQ https://t.co/7QPftGrdxG#2G #3G #3G4G5G #2G3Gshutdown

— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) April 8, 2022

The operator has enabled 5G access across all of its smartphone tariffs and intended to expand its 5G coverage to 55% of Austrians by the end of 2022 — while also planning to switch off its 3G services from the beginning of 2024.

Hutchison Drei Austria is the third-largest mobile operator in Austria, with a market share of around 24%. The company was formed in 2013, following the merger of Hutchison 3G Austria and Orange Austria. Hutchison Drei Austria offers a range of mobile services to consumers, including voice, SMS, and data services, and has invested heavily in 5G infrastructure. The company also offers fixed-line services, including broadband and IPTV.

Hutchison Drei Austria has announced the commercial launch of 5G Standalone (5G SA) services under the name ‘5G+’. The offering has been made available for 1.3 million homes and businesses across the country, and all of the firm’s existing 5G transmission sites have been activated for 5G+.

Drei has worked with Qualcomm and ZTE to showcase a 5G Standalone network using the 700 MHz band and aggregating a 1400 MHz supplemental downlink band. According to the involved parties, this development will help to improve 5G download speed and coverage in suburban and rural areas. Enhancing 5G experience in Austrian rural areas is important, as there is a notable 5G rural-urban divide in Austria, as recent research has demonstrated.

Related Posts: 

• Operator Watch Blog: Austria Gets New 5G Spectrum
• Operator Watch Blog: Excellent Video / Gaming Experience on 4G has set High Expectations for 5G in Austria 

Austria Gets New 5G Spectrum

The Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR) announced the latest round of spectrum auction results last month.  

5G Observatory provides more details here:

In September 2020, the Austrian regulator RTR finally completed the delayed multi-band 5G auction. RTR had to postpone the auction due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The second 5G auction in Austria awarded frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1,500 MHz and 2,100 MHz bands, raising 202 million EUR. In March 2019, 3.4- 3.8GHz spectrum was auctioned to seven successful bidders generating 188 million EUR.

27 blocks were up for sale, including six blocks in the 700MHz band, twelve in the 2100MHz range and nine in the 1500MHz band.

T-Mobile Austria paid 87 million EUR for 2×20MHz of 700MHz spectrum, 20MHz in the 1500MHz band and 2×15MHz of 2100MHz spectrum. A1 Telekom will pay 66 million EUR for 30MHz of frequencies in the 1500MHz band and 2×25MHz in the 2100MHz range. The incumbent player did not get 700 MHz spectrum. Hutchison Drei won 2×10MHz of 700MHz spectrum, 30MHz in the 1500MHz band and 2×20MHz of 2100MHz frequencies for a total of 50 million EUR.

The government aims to deploy 5G on main traffic routes by the end of 2023 and to reach “virtually nationwide” 5G coverage by the end of 2025. 700 MHz licences will include coverage of 80% of 2,100 underserved communities with download speeds of 30 Mbps and 3 Mbps for upload by 2027, and 90% of federal and state roads should get at least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads.

5G is already launched in Austria based on 3.5 GHz. These new lower band frequencies become available 1 January. https://t.co/YywCDTpOoy

— tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) September 11, 2020

Back in March 2019, Austria awarded 20-year 3.4-3.8 GHz licences to the three national mobile incumbents and to four regional players for a total of 188 million EUR. Amounts raised are significantly lower than those reached in Italy.

For 100 to 140 MHz in all regions, A1 paid 64.3 million EUR. T-Mobile won 100 MHz in all regions for 56.9 million EUR. Hutchison Drei got 100 MHz in all regions and paid 51.9 million EUR.

Four regional players (Mass Response, Liwest, Salzburg AG, Holding Graz) secured between 30 and 80 MHz of spectrum in one or two regions.

Liwest bought 80 MHz for both Linz and Upper Austria for 5.3 million EUR. Salzburg AG paid 4.4 million EUR for 80 MHz of spectrum in the regions of Salzburg city and Salzburg state (80 MHz) and 40 MHz in Styria. Holding Graz paid almost 3 million EUR for a 50 MHz licence in Graz and a 40 MHz one in Styria. The MVNO Mass Response acquired 30 MHz of spectrum for the Lower Austria and Burgenland region for 1.8 million EUR.

The three national operators must build at least 300 base stations nationwide before the end of 2020.

A1 Telekom Austria Group shares two slides that summarize the #5G frequency spectrum bands. Excellent 5G spectrum snapshot! #Layer123 #SDN19 pic.twitter.com/qk7FaYPhlM

— Jim St. Leger (@JimStLeger) October 14, 2019

Frankly, some of the new bands could also be used for 4G if the operator so wishes but it may not be worth deploying 4G when 5G deployments have started in earnest. 

Related Posts:

• Operator Watch Blog: Excellent Video / Gaming Experience on 4G has set High Expectations for 5G in Austria

Excellent Video / Gaming Experience on 4G has set High Expectations for 5G in Austria

Austria’s very competitive mobile market is dominated by the three operators:

• 3 (Drei) Austria (Orange and "3" merged in 2013 into one network and the Orange brand name was dropped, but still two different "3" networks are shown when you make a scan).

• Magenta Telekom (T-Mobile was rebranded to Magenta Telekom in May 2019 as a result of the merger with the cable-company UPC.) 

• Telekom Austria’s own unit A1. 

However, the market also benefits from a growing number of new entrants in the MVNO sector, which collectively have about 7% of the market by subscribers. The growth in the MVNO sector is partly due to regulatory concessions by which 3 Austria, as a condition of its take-over of Orange Austria, was obliged to provide a third of its network capacity to support up to 16 MVNOs.

Mobile coverage is excellent for a country with difficult topography and similar to Switzerland on a very high level. In 4G/LTE all three networks cover more than 98%. This survey follows the historical order mostly used in the country and is no ranking. 5G/NR was launched on all three networks in 2019/2020 but isn't open to pre-paid customers for now.

The competitive environment has led to relatively low ARPU for operators, as well as some of the region’s lowest tariffs for consumers. The operators’ LTE networks have benefited from regulatory measures which have allowed operators to refarm existing 2G and 3G spectrum for LTE, while spectrum in the 700MHz has also been set aside for mobile broadband use once this band is released from broadcasters.

In March 2019, the regulator concluded an auction of spectrum in the 3.4-3.6Hz range to be used for 5G services. Investment among MNOs has been focussed on 5G, and by early 2020 5G services were available in a large number of localities. A multi-spectrum auction was planned for mid-2020 including the sale of the 700MHz, 1500MHz and 2100MHz bands however this has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source

Drei Austria (called 'drei' spoken like 'dry' for 3) used to be the smallest network in the country until they bought Orange and merged in 2013 to become a very competitive player. 4G/LTE is on 1800 MHz (B3) and 2100 MHz (B1) nationwide as well as 900MHz (B8), 2600 MHz (B7) & 2600 MHz (TDD B38) in some areas and covers already 98% of population.

Their market share is now on par with T-Mobile and network coverage and speeds are on par with A1 in 2017 on a high level. In the meantime, Drei has opened 4G/LTE for most of their prepaid plans. They offer the lowest rates of any network operator. 3 offers domestic roaming with the "3-AT" (Magenta 2G) network.

 Drei ended last year with approximately 100 5G base stations across the country. Some of the cities in which the operator provides 5G are Linz, Pörtschach, Wörgl, Leoben, as well as in parts of Graz and Vienna.

At ZTE’s Global Wireless User Congress and 5G Summit, the Chinese vendor and Drei Austria also jointly demonstrated what they claim is the industry’s first end-to-end network slicing operation. One smart bionic mechanical dog equipped with 5G CPE for a data connection showed different potential application scenarios, such as rescuing, security patrol and guarding home. Together with 8k UHD video, drone and high-speed download services, a panoramic view of the future life with 5G was shaped (see video above).

Deutsche Telekom rebranded T-Mobile Austria to the Magenta brand in May 2019. The new operator is called Magenta Telekom and is considered to have good coverage within the country on 4G, GSM and UMTS, slightly behind A1 and Drei, but still on a generally high level. 4G/LTE is available on 800 MHz (B20) nationwide except for some bigger cities, 1800 MHz (B3) for smaller and bigger cities, 2100 MHz (B1) in more and more places as well as 2600 MHz (B7) in bigger cities. It covers 97% of the population in 2019.

T-Mobile Austria spent 57 million euros at the Austrian spectrum auction and launched 5G services in March 2019, activating the first 25 5G base stations, primarily in rural regions. And announced around a billion euros in total between 2018 and 2021 to guarantee that Austria has a powerful broadband infrastructure, both mobile and landline.

T-Mobile is already offering 5G coverage at over 600 locations across the country, the operator said in a release. Their 5G coverage currently reaches around 25% of the country’s households and businesses.T-Mobile Austria expects to deploy 5G in 1,200 locations in all federal provinces by the end of this year, resulting in a nationwide coverage of 40%.

T-Mobile Austria, sorry should be @magentatelekom, has launched two 5G ready unlimited and speed-tiered smartphone plans. These are the first unlimited smartphone plans in Austria (but data-only plans have been unlimited and speed-tiered for long) https://t.co/GvWN40XXXC pic.twitter.com/ovGHffwBJ6

— tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) May 7, 2019

A1 Telekom Austria is still the biggest telecommunication provider in the country with a very high standard. 4G/LTE is available on 800 MHz (B20) nationwide, 1800 MHz (B3) in smaller and bigger cities as well as 2600 MHz (B7) in bigger cities, covering 98% of population in 2019.

A1 had commercially launched its 5G services in January 2020. At the time of the launch, the carrier said its 5G network will cover 350 locations across 129 municipalities in Austria. The operator claimed its “A1 5Giganetwork” will be the largest 5G network in Austria, spanning 54,000 square kilometer. A1 had acquired 5G spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band in March 2019.

The 5G speed tiers of @A1Telekom in Austria are fairly modest compared to what 5G theoretically could deliver - 300 Mbit/s for smartphones and 500 Mbit/s for 5G-based home broadband. 350 5G sites operational, nationwide population coverage by 2023. https://t.co/XcoQADSW6I pic.twitter.com/qNZad5iwpw

— tefficient 🚥 (@tefficient) February 12, 2020

According to the most recent Open Signal report on Austria the mobile network experience shows that the country’s mobile experience is very mature, with users seeing high 4G Availability in excess of 90% and fast sub-35ms latencies. Download speeds are also impressive, ranging from 46.8 Mbps for users on A1 to 29.2 Mbps on Magenta, while users across all three networks have observed an Excellent Video Experience.

Mobile gaming has become increasingly important to operators, with many of them, including 3, looking to cloud gaming as a use for the latest 5G networks. Opensignal’s latest metric, Games Experience is a measure of how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. 

Users on all three of Austria’s nationwide networks observed a Good Games Experience. This means most users deemed the experience acceptable. It also indicates that the gameplay experience is generally controllable and the user receives immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users did not experience a delay between their actions and the game.

All three of Austria’s nationwide operators have launched 5G and while it will take some time for it to be rolled out across the country, it will be interesting to see what further improvements greater 5G  availability brings to the Austrian mobile network experience.

The Global Reach of Hutchison / '3' Group Mobile Telecom Companies

I am a big fan of 'The Mobile Network' Magazine (hereafter TMN) as it has a very well designed layout and very well thought of content. I always learn quite a few things from each issue. Hence when I saw the last one had an article on the mobile operator '3', I got in touch to get a PDF copy to share (please follow SlideShare embed below to download).

I would recommend everyone to subscribe to get their own physical or soft copy of TMN magazine. To receive your own copies of TMN Quarterly, sign up here: http://the-mobile-network.com/publications/#publications-form

While I was aware of the '3' group, I wasn't aware that the parent company Hutchison had some other brands too. In addition, I was surprised to find out that the group also has a MVNE (learn more about the difference between MNO, MVNO, MVNA & MVNE here)

For those who prefer maps, here is a global footprint of Hutchison Three companies. While most companies operate with a 'Three' brand there are a few that operate under different brand names. The most shocking being Vodafone Australia which is actually a joint venture between Vodafone and Hutchison Telecoms

Anyway, here is the article:

Three times a winner? - TMN Magazine Issue #20 from 3G4G

Further Reading:

• Different Types of Mobile Operators