SKOPJE, June 10 (Xinhua) -- 5G network will be available to all cities of North Macedonia by the end of 2027, the Minister of Information Society and Administration, Damjan Mancevski declared here on Monday.

Mancevski made the declaration at the opening ceremony of the third edition of the International Balkan Conference on Communication Networking BalkanCom 2019 themed "5G and Beyond" held in the capital city Skopje.

During his speech, Mancevski said that the technology is expected to bring real digital evolution, stimulation of economic growth, innovation and prosperity.

"5G will change entire industries. These sectors will be fully transformed with digital communication, computing power and sensor networks. Automation will largely depend on secure and functional 5G networks. Individuals and machines will be able to communicate and share information in a way unknown until now," underlined Manchevski.

Speaking about the government's policies in the digitization field, the minister noted that at the beginning of this year, the government adopted the National Operational Broadband Plan, which is in line with the European Union strategic goals.

"Based on the use of public funds, as well as investments by operators in the next three years, it is estimated that by the end of 2023, at least one city in North Macedonia will have 5G coverage, and by the end of 2027 all cities in the country will have coverage and an uninterrupted 5G signal," Mancevski said.

According to Mancevski, by the end of 2029 every citizen will have access to 5G internet with a minimum speed of 100 megabits per second.

BalkanCom is held in a Balkan country every year. Albania hosted the first conference in 2017 and Montenegro the second in 2018.