Swan launched LTE services in Slovakia on Friday, but until it reaches agreement with rival operators over national roaming its offer will be restricted to data-only.
The broadband operator, which acquired 1800 MHz spectrum in the country’s auction in January last year, announced the launch on its Website. The new service is available in 50 cities and costs €5 per month, in addition to a €5 set-up fee.
At present, the operator is unable to offer voice services, since it has thud far failed to broker a roaming deal with any of the country’s existing mobile network operators.
The telco’s licence permits it to use one of its rivals’ networks for voice coverage once it has built out its own network to 20% of the population, according to the Slovak Spectator. Swan claims to have met this requirement, but it has not been ratified by Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RU) yet.
Swan is in the midst of a legal battle with Orange’s local unit regarding the issue.
Orange has sought court protection from being forced into a roaming deal with Swan, claiming that its network cannot handle the extra traffic, the paper reported. Meanwhile, Swan claims that Orange is violating the terms of its licence by resisting a roaming deal.
Last year Swan said it aimed to have 200,000 active SIM cards on its network by the end of 2015, although at that time it had hoped to launch by end-2014. Ultimately, it is targeting a customer base of half a million plu s.
