Mobile network operator Telenor Hungary (formerly Pannon) tested its new Hipernet-branded 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network at Lake Balaton in August, offering visitors to the area’s three lakeside towns ‘unparalleled’ download speeds for mobile internet surfing, Telegeography.com reported on Sept 12, 2014. The test took place between 16 and 18 August at the locations of Siofok, Balatonalmadi and Keszthely, it said, to demonstrate the capabilities of Hipernet 4G – which it claims is Hungary’s fastest LTE-based network. The ultra-high speed network – launched in July 2012 – already covers around 30% of the Magyar population, including about 50% of the capital, Budapest.

As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, last month Telenor Hungary’s rival T-Mobile expanded its LTE coverage to take in the holiday resort of Lake Balaton, noting that the 4G network was already live in 13 cities on the north shore, including Keszthely, Lake Balaton and Balatonalmadi, and a further 13 in south coast resorts, such as Fonyodon, and Balatonfoldvar. As a result of the 4G rollout, by the end of the summer T-Mobile’s outdoor population coverage is expected to reach nearly 80% of the Lake Balaton region.