Russia has it's first 3G network
October 6, 2007
MegaFon is Russia’s first mobile operator to launch its
IMT-2000/UMTS (3G) network. The company has launched the first portion
of the 3G network with the data transfer rate of up to 3.6 Mb per
second that will cover St.Petersburg and part of the Leningrad Region.
The other biggest mobile operators in Russia, MTS and Beeline (JSC
Vympelkom) say they will also launch 3G in the nearest future. The
amount of investment is to make up billions of dollars.
MegaFon’s network in St.Petersburg will cover the central
part of the city, the area of Vasilevsly Ostrov, the railway stations,
the airports of Pulkovo-1 and Pulkovo-2 and the suburban town of
Pushkin. Now the network includes 30 basic stations built using
Nokia Siemens Networks equipment.
The coverage is not yet enough for full-value revenue service.
However, MegaFon clients with mobile phones supporting 3G can enjoy
services available in the 3G network. Access to the Internet through
3G is to be paid at GSM prices. The operator has not yet created
any new offer in this connection.
MegaFon Director General Sergey Soldatenkov says that in the framework
of the company’s license the operator plans to build 3G networks
in 16 regions of the Russian Federation by 2008. Earlier Soldatenkov
had stated that the company would invest about $1 billion into creation
of a 3G network all over Russia.
In April 2006, Russia’s three leading mobile operators won
tenders for getting licenses to sell 3G services. All the three
operators plan to invest similar sums into building their 3G networks.
MTS and Vympelkom are making their 3G networks ready for launching
and getting all necessary licenses.
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