Digi Mobil: Users' number at 3.3 mln in Q1, 4G traffic holds 50 pct share

Telecom company Digi Mobil registered an increase in the number of users in the first quarter of this year, reaching 3.3 million, and the 4G traffic accounted for 50 percent of the overall traffic.

The company will focus on the expansion of 4G network to cover the tunnels of Bucharest’s subway until September.

In April, the company announced that it reached over 2 million subscribers, individuals, after only two years on relaunch and the mobile internet registered 2.4 million users.

The share in 4G traffic increased significantly in the first quarter of this year, up to 50 percent of the total, from2 percent of the overall traffic in the same period of 2016.

At the same time, the number of number switches from other operators increased by 22 percent compared with the first three months of the year, reaching 1.2 million. In 2016, 939,663 mobile phone numbers were switched in Romania, out of which 434,816 to RCS&RDS, the company that operates Digi Mobil network, according to the National Authority for Regulation in Communications (ANCOM).

The company will focus on the investments in 4G network, but it’s preparing for the switch to 5G, said the vice-president of RCS&RDS, Valentin Popoviciu.

„We continue the investments to make an upgrade to the 4G network and we are preparing the 5G network to be available in three years. The investments in mobile network is focusing on the increase of 4G coverage for national roads and highways, seaside, the main touristic areas,” said Popoviciu.

He believes that 5G will have a major increase in the market in the future, in the context in which the smart cities and smart cars will need this technology.

„We’ll offer 4G in the subway’s tunnels until September. Currently, we have coverage on all the subway stations,” said Popoviciu.