site.bta80% of Bulgaria to Have 5G Connectivity by End of 2025

By the end of 2025, 80% of the country's population will have access to 5G connectivity as a result of the joint efforts of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Communications Regulatory Commission and mobile operators, said Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Grigori Grigorov at the opening of a presentation on the possibilities for Bulgarian organizations to apply for 5G projects under the Connecting Europe Facility, quoted in a statement from the Transport and Communications ministry on Wednesday.

This is a continuation of the European Commission initiative WiFi4EU which aims to build points for public access to high-speed wireless Internet in public places. T the time 91% of the Bulgarian municipalities that applied received funding and Bulgaria took first place in terms of the number of vouchers provided. In this regard, Deputy Minister Grigorov called on educational and health institutions, municipal and public organizations to actively participate in the new competition for 5G projects, in order to successfully use the funding opportunities. The total budget is EUR 51 million for all EU countries.

The Deputy Minister recalled that efforts are being made to implement an investment from the Recovery and Resilience Plan so that 400,000 Bulgarians in remote areas can have access to high-speed Internet and use a 5G mobile network. Additionally, all 265 municipalities will be connected with high-speed connections in a single state administration network.

Fifth generation connectivity will get even better development after this week mobile operators have already received licenses to use frequencies in the 700 and 800 megahertz bands, Grigori Grigorov added.

The new project contest under the Connected Europe Mechanism has improved application conditions, with participants having a longer period to prepare their proposals, said Stavros Kalapotas from Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology in the European Commission. He added that European funds will cover up to 75% of the investments made. The application deadline is February 20, 2024.