From the First HELLO to the Latest Technology Generations

When on 14th October 1996, the 2G technology and the first mobile network in the country was introduced in Macedonia, it had the capacity to serve 25,000 customers and to provide only voice services. Today, when the whole world is getting ready for the implementation of the latest mobile technology generation 5G, the first mobile operator in the country, Makedonski Telekom, is prepared for the challenge.

The First Mobile Telephones

In 1996, mobile telephones started being massively used and brought about a real revolution in terms of communication and connectivity. By installing 16 base stations that had a capacity for 25,000 customers, the mobile operator formerly known as MobiMak for the first time ever enabled the Macedonian customers to place a call while on the go and to communicate through their own device while outside of their homes and offices.

As time went by, the network signal was becoming more widely spread and accessible, while the telephone devices were getting smaller and faster. The vertiginously fast evolution of the mobile network announced its arrival – once the 2G standard was promoted, nothing was the same any more.

Right before the start of the new millennium, the number of base stations on the territory of Macedonia increased, while the capacity for providing services for the customers expanded to 70,000. The fast development of the network of MobiMak already the next year enabled service for 170,000 customers and 80% coverage of the territory of the country. The same year also marked the promotion of the GPRS technology, which for the first time ever provided the customers in Macedonia with data services with a speed of up to 48 Kbit/s.

Expansion of the Mobile Network

With the transition into the 2000’s, it became crystal clear that mobile technologies will mark the future. For its fifth birthday, the first Macedonian operator once again enhanced the network infrastructure, it covered 90% of the population and it was able to serve 270,000 customers. In the meantime, the company became a part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, it was rebranded into T-Mobile Macedonia and it became the first operator that introduced the EDGE technology which enabled faster data services.

The next major revolution in terms of the mobile network occurred in 2009 when T-Mobile Macedonia implemented the new network standard 3G for the first time. Speed started being measured in Mbit/s, video upload and download was facilitated and the social networks were just beginning to flourish. It became obvious that the customers are reacting positively to the new technologies, the interest in such technologies was on the rise and potential was created for the development of the mobile network which indicated a new perspective as to what was in store for the future.

Pioneers in the New Era of Technologies

With the introduction of the 4G standard (LTE) we really felt what it is like to "live the future”. Starting from October 2013, the customers of Makedonski Telekom became able to use mobile internet with speeds of up to 150 Mbit/s and services based on this new technology. Finally, the mobile network got features that ensured for smart phones to become an intrinsic part of our everyday life, a tool for work, communication and entertainment. Only two years thereafter the upgrade of 4G+ occurred and it enabled even greater speeds which were doubled in 2015. Up to the present day, the 4G technology is the most widely used network standard. It enables a series of features that were unimaginable just 10-15 years ago.

Preparations for the New 5G Technology

However, the world is treading forward and the mobile communication technologies are constantly developing at a rapid pace. In 2018, Telekom was the first operator that implemented the first 5G demo in Macedonia and measured speeds more than fourfold higher than the speeds of the 4G network. As soon as the next year, Makedonski Telekom installed the first test 5G network in Skopje and Ohrid, whereby it enabled the testing of this technology in real-life conditions, wherein gigabyte transmission speeds were recorded.

This year, the Telekom network is being modernized on the entire territory, which is creating actual conditions for the introduction of the latest technologies in mobile communications – the 5G generation, which will be implemented when the respective prerequisites are ensured.

For entire 25 years after the installation of the first mobile network in the country we cannot help but wonder how much mobile technology has changed the manner in which we communicate and how much will the new 5G technology, which is on the horizon, change our entire society and our way of living.

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