Riga, Sept 2 (LETA) - Information and communication technology services provider Bite Latvija plans to invest almost EUR 5 million in the development of its network in the Riga planning region this year, the company informed LETA.

Over the past two decades, Bite Latvija has invested EUR 82.6 million in network modernization and 5G development in the Riga planning region, while additional investments of almost EUR 5 million are planned for this year.

Aleksandrs Belajevs, Head of Radio Network Department at Bite Latvija, pointed out that the funds are allocated both for the construction of new base stations and for the modernization of the existing infrastructure.

The company pointed out that 438 base stations have been installed in the Riga planning region since 2005, and a total of 34 more have been built this year. By the end of 2025, five more new base stations are planned to be built in the Riga planning region.

Of all the base stations installed in the Riga planning region, 406 have been upgraded with 5G technology and 33 will be upgraded this year.

In total, Bite Latvija plans to install 60 new 5G base stations this year in locations across Latvia that have not been covered so far and to upgrade 210 existing base stations with the latest technology from Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson. By the end of the year, the company's network will include 1,160 base stations, more than 800 of which will be equipped with 5G technology.

Belajevs pointed out that the residents of the Riga planning region consume almost 19.4 million gigabytes (GB) of data per month, and this amount has increased threefold in the last five years. "That is why we plan to make 5G available to 85 percent of Latvia's population by the end of this year," he said.

Bite Latvija began phasing out 3G technology in June.

Bite Latvija reported a turnover of EUR 183.75 million last year, an increase of 12.5 percent compared to 2023, while its profit rose 1 percent to EUR 33.712 million.

Bite Latvija was registered in 2005 and has a share capital of EUR 44 million. Bite Latvija is wholly owned by the Lithuanian Bite group.