GO customers to enjoy free upgrade to 5G mobile services

As of today, GO pay monthly customers with 5G enabled handsets will get to enjoy the latest generation of mobile technology, for free, when in 5G covered areas, such as the St Julian’s and Sliema areas.

GO today announced a €16 million investment and a new network agreement with telecommunications giant Nokia which will see GO undertaking a challenging and highly complex network rollout of 5G infrastructure which will provide Malta with nationwide coverage by the end of 2023.

‘As a company, we pride ourselves on being one of the biggest investors in Malta’s digital infrastructure. This continuous investment means that our customers get to enjoy the best and latest technologies, every day; that they never have to worry about how they are going to connect to the things they love, but more about who and what they want to connect to,’ said Nikhil Patil, CEO, GO plc. 

‘Our job is to ensure that we keep on enabling peoples’ lives and businesses through the latest technologies, with the fastest, uncapped mobile speeds. This latest investment, which is estimated to exceed €16 million, sets the groundwork required to support future technologies and is a true testament to our purpose as a company, which is to drive a digital Malta where no one is left behind,’ he explained.

Essentially, 5G paves the way for the adoption of mobile solutions in real-time applications such as automation and remote monitoring, and for ‘immersive’ technologies such as virtual reality. This will become possible by reducing latency – the mobile network’s reaction time, therefore providing a far richer experience to the end user.

5G also delivers much higher capacity, allowing more devices to use the network simultaneously, an essential requirement for mobile networks to support the ‘Internet of Things’, which will see billions of devices requiring connectivity worldwide.  In fact, in the past week, GO has launched its first IOT product which enables business to track valuable assets and collate data allowing for better decision making.

Today, pay monthly customers will automatically see the 5G logo on their mobile device and will get to enjoy the true 5G experience, with uncapped, and far superior broadband speeds in those areas currently covered with 5G services. So far, only a few handsets, including specific devices from Xiaomi and One-Plus, automatically support 5G. GO however, has already initiated the process so that other suppliers, such as Samsung and Apple provide the required certification to enable their 5G phones on GO’s network. 

Nokia is a leading global 5G supplier and has been GO’s trusted mobile partner since the introduction of 3G in 2007.

Kelvin Camenzuli, GO’s Chief Digital Officer explained how essentially, 5G is set to address future challenges in the areas of connectivity, speed, and quality of service offering high-speed mobile connection, low latency services and an ultra-reliable and scalable network.

“A true 5G experience requires a great fibre network to deliver the maximum speeds possible. As the only operator in Malta offering True Fibre connectivity, our teams have worked tirelessly over the past years to deploy True Fibre to all our mobile sites in preparation for this next phase in mobile technology. We are pleased to announce that through our partnership with Nokia, one of the leading 5G suppliers in the world, we are now in a position to start delivering 5G services to our customers,” said Kelvin Camenzuli.

“We believe that Nokia’s 5G proposition satisfies our expectations because it is a solution built to support the growth of mobile and enterprise services and allows the scalability and varied service requirements for our customers to truly experience the benefits of 5G as we ensure that no one is left behind in connecting to the latest 5G services,” he added.

‘Throughout this past year, our existing 4G mobile network was repeatedly certified by independent accreditors, as the fastest and most reliable mobile network. As a company we know and understand how dependent our customers are on a secure mobile connection, whether they are private individuals or businesses. This progression toward 5G mobile services is a natural step forward in ensuring that our customers’ lives are that little bit better, every day,’ concluded Nikhil Patil.