Page 19 - bne_Tech_11_2019

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November 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 19
Azercell Telecom launches pilot project providing Azerbaijan’s first 5G network
Azercell Telecom has launched Azerbaijan’s first 5G network, Azertac reported on November 12.
Fountain Square in central Baku has reportedly been given by 5G coverage by Azercell and permanent partner Ericsson A test at its customer service centre by the square was said to have logged an internet download speed of more than 1GB/s.
During the pilot phase covering an area in and around Fountain Square, 5G will be provided free of charge by Azercell as the company continues to perform testing.
At present, around 60 regions of Azerbaijan, including Baku and Absheron, are covered by Azercell's LTE network, according to the company.
Romania’s software industry to grow by 10.4% in 2019
Romania’s software industry is projected to expand by about 10.4% y/y to €6.2bn this year, according to estimates by market research company KeysFin.
The projection seems rather moderate, given that the exports of software and IT industry have already surged by 21% y/y to €5.2bn in the rolling 12 months ending July.
Some 58% of the turnover in the software industry is generated by firms located in the capital city Bucharest, Keysfin estimates.
As regards the balance between foreign and local investors, the former control 53% of the equity of software companies in Romania, while the share of local investments saw an annual advance of about 5 percentage points to 47% in 2018.
Foreign investors in the local software market come from over 60 countries, with Germany
(with 10.7% of the total), Luxembourg (7.3%), Netherlands (7.2%), UK (5.5%) and Cyprus (4.8%) accumulating two thirds of the total foreign equity. As for the local investors, they come from the big cities of the country, such as Bucharest and Cluj- Napoca, as well as from medium-sized cities, such as Targu-Mures.
Russian driverless technology to get boost from state
Russian developers of driverless solutions will get state support fully covering the testing of driverless vehicles as of January 2019, Vedomosti daily reported on November 11 citing the draft project of the government.
The potential state support would most benefit internet major Yandex that recently boasted it has done more than a one million miles of road testing.
Currently Yandex has 69 automated vehicles certified for test drives on public roads, and plans to have a fleet of hundreds of vehicles by 2020.
The cost of each vehicle is about $120,000, out of which $30,000 is the cost of the passenger car and $90,000 is the cost of additional equipment.
Most recently Yandex also introduced Yandex. Rover delivery robot, which comes under the umbrella of Yandex.Taxi services. The robot the size of a suitcase can navigate sidewalks and deliver small parcels.
Previously the company's representatives hinted that automated delivery is one of the directions for the development of the driverless division. Automated delivery solutions could be integrated with foodtech services such as Yandex.Food and Yandex.Lavka, and the marketplace Beru.