Main rivals as well as a clutch of sub-brands are already doing it
The operator’s 5G network covers more than a quarter of the population and should reach more than half by the end of the year
Orange Slovakia has expanded 5G network coverage to 28% of the population, up from 25% in December 2022, covering 146 cities and towns.
It is the country’s biggest mobile operator by subscriptions and plans to cover more than 50% of the population by the end of 2023.
Orange 5G is only available to those paying monthly subscriptions, but a company spokeswoman, Alexandra Piskunova, told the local news site Zive.sk that the operator is considering making 5G available to pre-paying customers, who use Prima cards or FunFón. She told the website, “We will inform you in good time when it is relevant”.
Lagging the competition?
As Telegeography points out, 5G is available for some of the rival main brands’ pre-paid customers including O2 Slovakia, Slovak Telekom and 4ka, and smaller, alternative budget mobile brands are following suit.
For instance, at the end of January, Tesco Mobile Slovakia, which is a joint venture between British retail group Tesco and O2 Slovakia (whose 5G covers 37% of the population), switched on 5G access for its Trio brand SIM card users.
This was after Juro, another of Slovak Telekom’s sub-brands, introduced 5G for pre-paid customers at the start of the year.
Radost’s customers, another O2 sub-brand, are also able to connect to 5G in some parts of the country.
Until last October, Orange charged extra for post-paid 5G access, sweetening the deal with extra data, but dropped the premium for 5G access on a range of its post-paid packages.