Russia’s four largest telcos – MobileTelesystems (MTS), MegaFon, VimpelCom and Rostelecom – have formed a union to ask the ministry of communications for approval to share spectrum to accelerate the rollout of 4G LTE mobile broadband services.
The…
Russia’s four largest telcos – MobileTelesystems (MTS), MegaFon, VimpelCom and Rostelecom – have formed a union to ask the ministry of communications for approval to share spectrum to accelerate the rollout of 4G LTE mobile broadband services.
The LTE Operators Union contends such an initiative would enable member telcos, all of which were awarded LTE frequencies at Russia’s recent auction, to improve the quality and speed of their networks.
A Rostelecom spokesperson said it would also help the operators make the most of their capex programmes.
“It will be a win-win story – all operators involved will benefit from this legislative amendment,” he said.
Commenting on MTS’ reasons for joining the consortium, a spokesperson said “active sharing” of available spectrum would enable operators to use it more efficiently, improve service quality and reduce costs.
A VimpelCom spokesperson said a key benefit of the initiative would be the ability to provide faster data speeds.
If approved, the initiative would place added pressure on Norwegian telco Tele2’s Russian unit, which missed out on LTE frequencies at the auction earlier in the year.
WiMax/LTE operator Scartel, which operates under the brand name Yota, received LTE frequencies without tender in September 2011. Scartel and MegaFon reportedly completed a merger of assets in mid-July, having secured regulatory clearance the previous month.
Earlier this year, Scartel announced it was ready to open up its new LTE network to other operators and published a detailed offer with a deadline of 7 September. Recent reports quote Tele2’s chief executive Mats Granryd as saying the company is in ongoing talks with Scartel.
