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Austria to help Belarus with 5G technology

VIENNA, 12 November (BelTA) – Austria will help Belarus to deploy 5G technology. A joint declaration on cooperation in communication, ICT and 5G broadband network development was signed in Vienna during the official visit of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko to Austria, BelTA has learned.

The document was signed by Belarus’ Economy Minister Dmitry Krutoi and Austria’s Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology Andreas Reichhardt.

“This is an important document. We discussed it with the Austrian ministry for a long time. If we take a look at Austria’s foreign trade structure, we will see that the services sector accounts for a big share. Today, colleagues told us about the digital economy development in Austria. This is a global trend. Austria has made great advances. The Austrian minister promised to share their expertise with us. There is also a chance to get technical and economic assistance,” Dmitry Krutoi said.

He noted that Belarus is considering various solutions, including 5G technology, and Austria's experience would be very useful. “We are working on the concept for its deployment. The Communications Ministry plans to raise the discussion to the level of the head of state. It is difficult to name the specific dates for the deployment of 5G. We are working not only with our Austrian colleagues. We have agreements with a number of countries to study their experience. We will try to agree on some concept, I think, within the next six months,” the minister said.

Dmitry Krutoi also noted that the topic of 5G technology was discussed in a broader format. Germany, a close neighbor of Austria and one of the main players in the EU, is beginning to deploy Industry 4.0 at major industrial enterprises. “5G is the heart of Industry 4.0. Therefore, more focus is placed on benefits for industrial and transport sectors rather than on consumer segment,” the minister noted.

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