Leading Edge Network Solutions Key to Competitiveness 

At the most prestigious telecommunications and IT conferences of this autumn, the Infotér and Internet Hungary conferences, the representatives of Vodafone Hungary presented the findings of Umlaut Mobile Benchmark in the frame of a round table. In their research, the group of independent German experts, which has been actively researching European markets for decades, concluded that Vodafone Hungary operates the leading Hungarian network in terms of voice- and data service reliability.

The research has also shown that Vodafone offers the smoothest online browsing and YouTube experience. The fact that the data demand, mobile internet traffic, and video content consumption have been on the rise among the company’s individual subscribers in recent years also solidifies the relevance of the findings. Vodafone Hungary has been supporting the evolving demand through major developments and investments.

‘Throughout the past five years, we invested close to 300 million Euros into network development, which is remarkable both on the domestic and the European level; and that does not even include spectrum band acquisitions. In the course of network development, it is of fundamental importance to expand the network capacity of base stations, which enables us to increase data transmission speed as much as possible. For the everyday user, this means that we can serve a higher number of customers in the given area at an equally high quality,’ explained István Szabó, Vodafone’s network director (CNO) at the Infotér Conference held this week.

"In 2019, it was considered groundbreaking when Vodafone launched the first outdoor commercial 5G service in Hungary. As part of our strategy, we wish to expand the service to the widest possible layer of the general public, and extending 5G coverage is essential to this aim. In the last three years, we have successfully made outdoor 5G available to the public in the largest part of Budapest, the surroundings of Lake Balaton, and in several large cities around Hungary."

Mátyás Dobó, Vodafone’s enterprise business unit director, noted "IoT technology is one of the most diverse solutions of today, as almost any device can be transformed into an intelligent solution, by which we are building a system, an ecosystem, where devices actively communicate with each other and the world." 

Vodafone installs hardware components to the site of the given business, enabling the business’ 5G-ready devices to connect to a completely private network that is inaccessible for outsiders. Vodafone has implemented this technology at East-West Gate in Fényeslitke, Europe’s first and largest intermodal railway terminal operated via a 5G private mobile network, as well as in the 5G remote controlled race car introduced in cooperation with the students of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

The major attraction of the conferences was the 5G remote-controlled race car, built and showcased in cooperation between Vodafone and the students of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The significance of this leading-edge technology is that allows for the real-time piloting of the race car via a 5G private network.

The model was first tested at the Formula Student East (FSE) engineering competition at the Hungaroring racetrack in September. The competition is an opportunity for university students to design and build race cars, as well as to test them in a race against each other.