Telecom companies sign contracts for launch of 5G network

Greece's telecoms watchdog, the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT), on Wednesday signed contracts with the country's three major telecoms providers Cosmote, Vodafone and Wind for the use of the 700MHz, 2GHz, 3400-3800 MHz and 26 GHz radio frequency band widths, which pave the way for a 5G network.

"For us it is a first step," said Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, adding that the anticipated financial gains of the new 5G networks include the creation of 69,000 new jobs by 2030 and 12 billion euros in added value.

Pierrakakis also spoke about the way the tender was carried out and the fact that some bandwidths were not included for use in research to develop products.