LTE trials to begin in Russia by year-end

Monday, 19 July 2010 09:05  |  James Barton

LTE test networks will be launched in Russia by the end of this year by both the mobile operator MegaFon and the WiMAX provider Yota.

Russian newspaper Kommersant is reporting that MegaFon is preparing a test network in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tartarstan region, by the end of the year, based on the assumption that it will receive LTE spectrum before its rivals.

“MegaFon... has everything you need to create a LTE test zone in Kazan, including technical ability and willingness to invest in technology development," said Igor Azure, a regional director at MegaFon.

Meanwhile, Yota is aiming to begin testing in the same area by August, having received approval from Russia’s Federal Communications Agency to use its allocated WiMAX spectrum for LTE. The agency, referred to in Russian as Rossvyaznadzor, has previously outlawed the operating of other technologies on frequencies reserved for WiMAX.

Yota is aiming to launch LTE networks in five cities across Russia this year, at a cost of US$100 million. Formerly one of the biggest WiMAX operators in the world, Yota switched to LTE in May this year. It aims to launch LTE in Moscow and St Petersburg by the end of 2011, with a total investment of around US$2 billion.