Press Releases

Connect Austria lands world record in Tyrol and Vorarlberg

- World’s fastest GSM network roll-out
- Good coverage from the start thanks to use of existing masts

In just six months Connect Austria has built up a fully operational, ultra-modern mobile phone network in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Thanks to international know-how, hard work and cooperation deals for the use of existing masts, Connect has set a new world record for roll-out speed.


Even by Connect standards, the team led by Connect Austria Area Manager for Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Eduard Mayr, had to set a particularly fast pace: ”In six months we have identified, acquired and built 180 base station sites. Today we are ‘on air’ and ready to go.” At normal roll-out speeds, an operator would expect to commission half the number of sites in twice the time. Connect Austria‘s build-out was thus four times as fast as usual, setting a new world speed record.

Why Tyrol and Vorarlberg?

Tyrol and Vorarlberg are particularly suitable areas for trial operation because of their heavy traffic flows and difficult topography. Connect CEO Jørgen Bang-Jensen said: ”We also know that the people of Tyrol and Vorarlberg have a favourable attitude to new technologies, but are also prepared to offer constructive criticism. And this is just what we want during the test phase.”

Tough challenge

The alpine topography of the two pilot provinces poses particularly tough challenges. High mountains mean that radio traffic is subject to additional interference and reflections, as well as reduced ranges. Another feature of the region that presents a severe test for the radio planners‘ skills is the large number of tunnels. Here, Connect Austria has profited from home-grown know-how. During his postgraduate studies at the Vienna University of Technology, Thomas Klemenschits of the Innsbruck office developed a special technique that lives up to Connect’s ”simple and innovative” motto. Applying the correct angle of incidence means that the radio waves are ideally guided through the tunnel, virtually of their own accord, by reflection from the walls, and even curves do not hamper this effect. In a region with 15 tunnels to cover, this method has given Connect a big technological lead.

Good coverage from day one, using existing masts

The Connect Austria mobile phone network already covers 71% of the populations of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. By the end of the year over 400 base station sites will have been constructed in the two Austrian provinces.
Connect Austria has been able to use existing masts for about 50 percent of the base stations. The close cooperation achieved with the TIWAG, VKW and VIW power utilities, and the Innsbruck and Feldkirch municipal utilities has kept the number of new masts to a minimum.

Facts and figures

Connect Austria’s Innsbruck area office currently has 19 staff, and by the autumn the payroll will have risen to 25.

Investments of ATS 500 million (mn) in Tyrol and ATS 200 mn in Vorarlberg will indirectly create a total of 250 jobs in the two provinces. Nokia alone has received orders worth ATS 450 mn for network roll-out. Other important cooperation partners are ABB and TIWAG.