The Czech Republic is launching a competition for towns and municipalities to test 5G technologies, following a national strategy approved in May.

“5G technologies are crucial to the development of local governments,” commented the Czech deputy prime minister and minister of industry and trade, Karel Havlíček. “As a result, municipalities will be able to work more closely with companies and universities on new systems such as smart transportation, security and digital applications for citizens. All in the spirit of making the Czech Republic a country of the future.”

One of the main goals of the auction is to promote increased competition within the Czech market and to attract new market entrant(s). It is hoped that this will help to reduce the current high costs of mobile services in the Czech Republic. To this end, block allocation of the 2×10 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band will be reserved exclusively for new operators.

The competition will show both municipalities and citizens how new technologies can help to improve the quality of life.

“Our aim is to promote the competitiveness of regions using smart approaches while avoiding regional disparities,” added Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová.

The Czech Telecommunication Office plans to kick-off an auction of 5G-suitable frequencies in early November, seeking to attract bids from a new fourth mobile network operator to tackle the long-standing problem of high mobile rates in the country.

Within three years of the auction, the current operators will have to cover 95% of all municipalities that presently lack high-speed internet coverage.

As part of its ongoing plans to introduce fifth-generation technology, O2 Czech Republic has activated in June its 5G network, running in a live environment, covering the city of Koline in the Central Bohemian Region (55km east of Prague).