MTS Corporation declare On September 11, Russia’s first large-scale gigabit 5G network in the 4.9 GHz band was opened to users in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Ufa. as mentioned before “Kommersant”The rollout of Russia’s new 4.9GHz band 5G is still underway in pilot areas.
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The Ministry of Digital Development told Kommersant that MTS only has the right to create pilot areas within this scope without charging users, and will be valid until August 1, 2027. “In accordance with the SCRF’s decision of July 25, 2019, within the framework of this license, operators can test 5G equipment and test various technical solutions without charging users.” – the ministry said.
“Operating mobile networks with peak data transfer rates up to 1.5 Gbit/s based on 46 original test areas” — MTS reports that the network “operates in accordance with the current decisions of the National Radio Frequency Commission.” The company did not respond to Kommersant’s questions about what equipment is used in the network.
According to a Kommersant source, “MTS mistakenly referred to the work in the various test areas as the full launch of 5G.” According to him, the previous license allowed for pilot tests, including on foreign equipment, but did not provide commercial services. According to the SCRF’s new decision, the range is allocated to operators to deploy networks only on domestic equipment, while according to its information, MTS uses foreign equipment in these areas. “Continuing broadcasts in the test area under the same conditions may cause disruption to other market participants,” – Sources believe.
There are currently no Russian 5G base stations (BS) on the market that can be used for commercial network operations. Irtea plans to deliver the first few hundred base stations in early 2027. Yadro will also begin mass production of 5G base stations no earlier than 2027.
The remaining operators reported that they are still developing 5G networks using existing frequencies previously allocated to LTE.
“MTS’s announcement of 4.9 GHz is primarily a marketing strategy to enable the operator to ensure its pioneering status. — said Ekaterina Litvinova, senior manager of TeDo Business Consulting Company. “In the short term, the winner is the one who covers a wider range of cities from the start – MegaFon looks stronger at the moment.”
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