Ericsson and MTS have entered into a partnership for the development of ICT infrastructure on which to deploy an LTE network. Ericsson has been chosen to deploy the LTE network in four regions covering more than half of Russia, thus becoming MTS's main vendor. The LTE launch will increase Russia's connectivity and foster the development of the country's economy.
Under the three-year agreement and starting in Q2, 2013, Ericsson will roll out LTE in the Siberian, Ural, Volga, and Southern Federal Districts of Russia. In the first stage of the project, the Swedish vendor will supply around 10,000 new-generation products from the RBS 6000 series, as well as core network hardware and services in the same regions.
As part of the agreement, Ericsson and MTS will extend their cooperation to further develop 2G/3G networks in several regions in Russia.
Andrei Dubovskov, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTS Group, says: "The regions we have targeted for 4G service coverage are very important industrial hubs with key sectors driving the Russian economy: mining, engineering, processing and farming. There is a very high demand among consumers here - including corporate subscribers - for innovative services and mobile broadband. We intend to start building 4G networks in Russia in the near future to provide subscribers in approximately 15 regions in Russia with high-speed data services by the end of 2013."
Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson, says: "We are committed to bringing a great LTE experience to MTS customers and having built more than 150 LTE networks globally, we see the huge effect on society that LTE has had."
