Serbia has launched its long-awaited 5G mobile network, ending years of delay that left the country trailing its Central and Eastern European peers in next-generation connectivity.

Mobile users across Serbia began seeing 5G signals on their devices on December 2 as operators activated newly awarded spectrum. The rollout marks a significant step for the country’s digital transformation, which has been slowed by repeated policy postponements and the late allocation of frequencies.

Serbia was among the last countries in the region to auction 5G spectrum, delaying the adoption of advanced digital services, cloud computing and Industry 4.0 technologies. The absence of 5G has weighed on competitiveness and slowed growth of the ICT sector, one of Serbia’s fastest-growing industries.

Telekom Srbija, Yettel and A1 secured licences worth just over €300mn in total, with each operator paying around €100mn, according to the national regulator RATEL. More than half of the sum was paid upfront when the licences were issued in November.

RATEL said the launch will bring higher data speeds, near-zero latency and greater capacity, enabling smoother online gaming, uninterrupted streaming and improved performance for artificial intelligence and machine-learning applications.

Consumers will need 5G-capable devices to access the new network; older devices will remain on 4G.

Global 5G rollout began in 2019 in South Korea, the United States, Britain, Spain, Switzerland and China, and the technology has since spread across most of Europe. Serbia’s launch closes a major gap in its digital infrastructure as the government seeks to modernise the economy and bolster its tech sector.