Bulgaria will reportedly start the process of offering spectrum for 5G in Q2 2020, if, a proposal for decreasing frequency fees gets adopted by the government.

Ivan Dimitrov, chairman of the Communication Regulation Commission, announced the regulator will open procedures for providing frequencies in the 700 MHz and 3.6GHz bands by the middle of next year, Reuters reported.

He added the tariffs operators will have to pay in order to deploy the next-gen network will be decreased in order to stimulate operations in the country.

According to the report, the regulator has suggested a drop in pricing between 30 per cent and 50 per cent.

The price change is expected to be voted on by The Council of Ministers very soon, minister of transport Rosen Zhelyazkov said, cited by business media Investor.

The media added all three Bulgarian operators – A1, Telenor and Vivacom – have addressed concerns about the construction legislation in the country, which currently issues permits for renovating base stations within 12-24 months.

It’s also possible the three carriers could cooperate in order to share costs in deploying 5G, as current prices for 5G equipment are about four times more expensive than 4G and 3G networks, according to Vivacom CEO Atanas Dobrev.

Reuters estimates investment in 5G rollouts to be about BGN800 million ($453 million) in the next three to four years.