DIGI poised to launch Portuguese 5G service in 2H22

Romanian telecommunication company, Digi Communications has invested over €67 million in Portugal’s 5G spectrum auction, a report by ECO stated. Not much is known about Digi, a company which is going to be one of the two new mobile operators, alongside Nowo, with their own network entering Portugal’s market.

The telecommunications group, through their subsidiary Dixarobil, has already recruited a team for the Portugal office, and is temporarily functioning out of a coworking space in Parque das Nações, in Lisbon, a source known to the company told ECO.

“According to the corporate acts, Dixarobil has Marius Varzaru as manager, the same man who leads Digi in Spain. However, the CEO of Digi in Portugal is expected to be Emil Grecu, who has been with the group for over two decades,” said the same source from ECO. Sheila Esteves, human resources director of Digi Portugal, has also been named as part of the team

Digi is actively recruiting and has been posting job offers on online platforms, ECO reports. A job posting from late December for the position in Lisbon for “a person with responsibility for placing job advertisements, scheduling interviews and writing reports on potential recruits” was filled this year by by Inês Casimiro, previously at Robert Walters, a consultancy specialising in human resources.

“We are looking for talent who want to build a success story with us in Portugal,” Digi wrote in the text accompanying the job vacancies.

The status of “new entrant”, gives it the power to negotiate national roaming agreements with Meo, Nos and Vodafone, states the ECO report. Digi has been in contact with Anacom, the sector’s watchdog, with which it has already met a few times, including after the end of the 5G spectrum auction.

When the company progresses to a commercial launch, the operator will enter the market with the brand “Digi”.

As previously reported by CommsUpdate, Dixarobil offered EUR67.3 million for spectrum in the 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2.6GHz and 3.6GHz bands. As per National Communications Authority (Autoridade Nacional de Comunicacoes, ANACOM) documentation, the watchdog registered Dixarobil Telecom as an electronic communications services provider on 23 June 2021 – mid way through the long-running 5G auction.

CT Bureau