Tele2 Russia has selected Ericsson to upgrade its network with the 5G-ready Ericsson Radio System, including software. The partners will jointly deploy 50,000 base stations across the country in 27 regions including Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
This is in addition to the 50,000 base stations included in the 2019 network modernization deal (as we reported at the time), doubling the speed of Tele2 Russia’s network transformation to 5G by 2023.
In fact more than 100,000 base stations will be deployed across the country as part of the new three-year network modernization contract.
Ericsson says it supported Tele2 Russia’s infrastructure upgrade with the deployment of 30,000 5G-ready base stations across Russia from 2019 to 2020. Expanding the network to include 100,000 5G-ready base stations will allow Tele2 Russia to significantly increase network capacity and data transfer rates, as well as prepare the network for the rapid launch of the 5G standard.
Alexey Telkov, CTO of Tele2 Russia, made an interesting point about the speed of the rollout, noting that the pandemic had accelerated the pace of network development to new speeds, “due to the explosive growth in traffic consumption and the active use of digital services from customers”.
The operator has certainly come a long way with 5G since August 2019 when Tele2 and Ericsson launched Russia's first 5G zone in central Moscow on Tele2's commercial network.
The non-stop outdoor 5G coverage is live in Tverskaya Street, the busiest part of the Russian capital. The 5G pilot zone is deployed in the 28GHz band in non-standalone (NSA) mode for mobile broadband services with ultra-high speeds.
