RIGA, March 15 (LETA) - Over the last three years, telecommunications operator Bite Latvija has built 25 new base stations in Latgale, increasing the number of base stations by 20 percent, the company's representatives informed LETA.

Aleksandrs Belajevs, head of the Radio Network Department at Bite Latvija, said that this year the company will continue to develop its network in Latgale, including strengthening the quality of communications in border areas.

Currently, there are 147 Bite Latvija base stations in Latgale, 65 of which are equipped with the latest technologies from the Swedish telecommunications manufacturer Ericsson, which speed up mobile internet speed and extend network coverage.

This year, the company plans to install six new 5G base stations and upgrade another 30 existing base stations that will operate on the 5G network.

Belajevs explains that 4G is still the main network used across the country, still providing opportunities for internet use, communication, video streaming, television and other needs of the population, but the shift to newer mobile devices is also driving an increase in demand for 5G networks.

Currently, 5G networks account for 20.4 percent of total data traffic, Belajevs said. Along with the use of 5G network in Latgale, data consumption has also increased, with a 40.3 percent increase compared to 2024.

Belajevs added that the volume of voice calls continues to decline, down 26.7 percent this year compared to last year. This is driven by changing communication habits, with people increasingly choosing to communicate on messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Messenger instead of making voice calls.

Bite Latvija also pays significant attention to the quality of communications in border areas. In total, 29 out of 147 base stations in Latgale are located in the border area, within 10 kilometers of the state border.

In total, this year Bite Latvija plans to build 5G base stations in 60 new locations across Latvia, as well as upgrade 210 existing base stations, investing around EUR 20 million in the next generation network.

By the end of the year, the 5G network will be available to 85 percent of the Latvian population, the company claims.

As reported, in 2023 Bite Latvija had a turnover of EUR 163.668 million, which is 9.2 percent more than a year earlier, while the company's profit increased by 50 percent and amounted to EUR 33.376 million.

Bite Latvija was registered in 2005 and has a share capital of EUR 99,085,286. Bite Latvija is wholly owned by Bite Lietuva, a Lithuanian company and a subsidiary of Providence Equity Partners, an international asset management company.