VimpelCom and MTS are to share 4G spectrum in 20 Russian regions, the companies announced today. The move comes as Russian operators look to lower costs, with Vimpelcom and MegaFon eyeing tower monetisation opportunities.
VimpelCom (NASDAQ:VIP) and MTS (NYSE:MBT) are to share 4G spectrum in 20 Russian regions, the companies announced today. The move comes as Russian operators look to lower costs, with major players VimpelCom and MegaFon eyeing tower monetisation opportunities.
The six-year extendible agreement represents an amendment to a separate pact to jointly plan, develop and operate 4G/LTE networks, signed on 19 December 2014.
Specifically, the two cellcos will share 2,600 MHz LTE frequencies in 20 of the 36 regions covered in the original agreement.
As such, they will share airwaves and radio frequency channels across all base stations that they jointly use. Under the amendment, they may increase the number of regions in which they share.
The operators said they hope the deal will enable them to double average and peak network speeds.
VimpelCom Russia CEO Mikhail Slobodin described the first year of joint network operation as “highly effective and promising.” He also thanked Russia’s Ministry of Communications and Mass Media for preparing the “regulatory framework and the adoption of laws that enable us to double the peak speed of mobile internet by combining the frequency spectrum in future”.
Andrei Dubovskov, MTS President and CEO, said: “The first results of the joint project with VimpelCom to develop LTE networks have exceeded our expectations. In the regions where we installed and jointly operated base stations, we have increased the number of LTE subscribers 30% faster than the average pace of growth throughout Russia. We have also managed to reduce the costs of construction and joint network usage by 10-15% compared to our initial estimates. With spectrum sharing, we expect to bring mobile broadband to remote areas even faster and anticipate realising more efficiencies.”
Under the original seven-year extendible
Both parties may also build their own networks to improve individual 4G/LTE coverage. They have so far launched shared 4G/LTE networks in 31 of the 36 regions.
