OREANDA-NEWS. PJSC VimpelCom (the Beeline brand) and PJSC MegaFon (MegaFon) are pleased to announce a joint project to develop base stations and share 4G/LTE network development and operation across 10 regions of Russia. Expenditures on the development and use of the base stations will be shared by the operators, thus accelerating 4G/LTE coverage penetration at lower costs.

Operators of the MegaFon and VimpelCom mobile communications companies have signed an agreement on the joint development and operation of LTE standard communication networks, according to which new base stations with 4G support will be deployed in 10 regions. Construction and operation costs will be divided between the two companies. The launch of the network is planned for after the second quarter of this year.

Alexander Bashmakov, Chief Technological Officer of MegaFon, commented: “MegaFon has the most extended network infrastructure. We were the first in Russia, who started to build LTE network proactively, this allowed us to become the market leader in data services not only in infrastructure and technologies, but also in data offerings to our customers. Our subscribers enjoy the fruits of our efforts, and at the end of Q3 2015 40% of our subscriber base used mobile internet with a significant part (40%) of Internet traffic transferred via LTE. This is the highest rate in the industry. After the acquisition of Scartel, MegaFon owns the widest range of frequencies in the 2,600 MHz band in Russia, and the implementation of a joint RAN-sharing project with VimpelCom will allow us to enhance harmoniously our infrastructure in the 1,800 MHz band in the most efficient way. With this project, we are going not only to improve the existing network significantly, but also to rapidly launch LTE in new locations in the selected regions at a minimum cost. This will allow millions of MegaFon’s new customers to enjoy high-speed mobile Internet and high-quality communication”.

Martin Skop, PJSC VimpelCom Russia’s Executive Vice President for Infrastructure Development, said: “We are committed to being the best 4G/LTE operator in Russia. We continue our development in line with this ambition by augmenting the number of base stations as well as enhancing 4G/LTE device penetration rate in Beeline’s network. In 2015, the number of 4G/LTE devices in our network grew 3.3-fold; 4G/LTE traffic is now over four times higher, while the number of 4G/LTE base stations grew 1.5 times. We anticipate that the trend of growing mobile data usage will increase in 2016 and beyond. To develop our network, we use the most effective approaches. That, we believe, allows our customers to embrace new services with improved quality sooner, while we can maintain the high speed of implementing the latest technologies in the new economy, in the most cost-effective manner. With the start of this project with MegaFon, we have the widest 4G/LTE network sharing partnership program of any Russian mobile operator.”

The deployment of more than 1,300 additional LTE-enabled base stations in the Smolensk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Bryansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the Republic of Karelia, and other regions of the joint 4G development programme, will become a big step in eliminating digital inequality by making high-speed mobile Internet accessible to millions of people in Russia.