Prospects of 5G development in Moldova

Back in 2022, the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) was planning a tender for licences to use radio frequencies for 5G mobile communications, but plans have changed. The Moldovan authorities, who wanted to raise €100 million from the issuance of a licence for the right to use resources, have extended the deployment of mobile networks in the country on 3600 MHz radio frequencies (5G network) until the second quarter of this year 2024. 

So why has the future of 5G not yet arrived? According to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development, the reasons for the postponement were the poor purchasing power of the Moldovan population due to the economic global crisis, the very low prevalence of mobile phones supporting 5G networks and their high cost.

5G mobile network: development prospects and benefits of fifth-generation communications  

5G network is the fifth generation of wireless systems. The 5G technology in Moldova operates on the same radio frequencies as the previous 4G generation network, but there are significant differences between them, which are summarised in the comparative table:

The mobility and energy efficiency of 5G equipment (25% savings compared to 4G/LTE), the ability to connect up to 1 million devices per 1 sq. km and very high speed and reliability of communication create unprecedented prospects for automation/robotisation, hence - cheaper and optimised production, management, communication and other processes. In the coming years, experts also expect rapid development and growth of the 5G satellite systems segment, which should greatly simplify access to these technologies and significantly modernise the global telecommunications landscape and related industries.

At the global level, the mass implementation of 5G is being realised in two phases, with the culmination of the second phase - the full capacity of networks equipped with the most innovative and exclusive 5G technologies - projected for 2024:

• ultra-broadband mobile communications - advanced but traditional cellular communications for communication between subscriber mobile devices;
• mass machine-to-machine communication - the main format of IoT communications for automated manufacturing, monitoring/management of traffic flows, urban environments, water resources, environment, smart agriculture, video surveillance systems, and the like;
• ultra-reliable, low-latency communication - for special IoT communication cases, such as unmanned vehicle control, some manufacturing processes, remote medical services, etc.

The technology focuses on creating so-called fifth-generation private mobile networks that can be integrated into other networks and cover from hundreds of square metres to tens of square kilometres in any location - depending on the wishes of their owner/user.

Deployment models for such networks can range from private (all network elements and management are owned and managed by the subject-owner) to hybrid, where a service provider or external telecom operator provides the subject with access to its network infrastructure assets and/or spectrum of services.

A budget-friendly alternative to deploying a physical (hardware-enabled) private network is also a virtual "5G private network as a service" - thanks to network slicing technology, which allows an operator to provide an isolated slice of spectrum to specific customers, programmes, device types, etc. All of these deployment scenarios are limited only by the technical coverage area and the capabilities of the provider's equipment.

Afterword

As international experience shows, the development of such complex and large-scale areas of technological development requires not only tactical decisions of the government, but also a comprehensive national 5G strategy and state sectoral policy based on it (special legislation and action programmes, regulatory procedures and practices, investments, partnerships, standardisation, certification, network security, etc.). Moldova is actually at the starting line, while in the EU this direction has been one of the priorities since 2015.

According to ANRCETI, the launch of a pilot project for the introduction of 5G technologies is planned for 2024. Relevant joint actions have also been initiated at the corporate level.