RIGA, July 9 (LETA) - Information and communication technology services provider Bite Latvija plans to install 60 new base stations and modify 210 existing ones this year, which means that by the end of the year the company aims to have about 850 base stations with 5G technology, Mindaugas Rakauskas, the company's general director, told LETA in an interview.

He said that the issue of base stations was the company's top priority. "Historically, we have been the third player on the market and the third player has to run fast. And we have been running fast," Rakauskas said.

According to him, the company has more than 1,100 base stations in Latvia and a large part of them, almost 700, are equipped with 5G. Bite Latvija aims to continue investing heavily. Bite Latvija has invested more than EUR 200 million in network development over 20 years.

Rakauskas said that the network was once built using Huawei technologies, but after the risks with Chinese technologies were identified, Bite Latvija made a strategic decision to switch to equipment from European manufacturer Ericsson.

"So now we are not only changing from 3G or 4G to 5G, but we are also changing manufacturers' equipment. This is not a simple or cheap process, but I believe that its value will be felt by everyone who uses it," emphasized Rakauskas.

Bite Latvija aims to provide 85 percent of the Latvian population with 5G access by the end of the year. At the same time, 4G is currently available to around 99 percent of Latvia's population.

He also pointed out that the company wants to fully switch to 5G within a few years. "Maybe in a few years we will start talking about what is the next step and when 6G will appear," Rakauskas said.

Asked when the Huawei equipment would be completely replaced, Rakauskas said that most of the Huawei equipment has already been replaced, but the plan is to replace all of it by the end of 2026.

As reported, Bite Latvija last year posted a turnover of EUR 183.75 million, which is 12.5 percent more than in 2023, while the company's profit grew by 1 percent and amounted 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.