Federal communications operators have agreed to jointly develop 5G

Federal communications operators (MTS, Vimpelcom, Megafon and Rostelecom) signed an agreement on intentions to jointly develop and optimally use the fifth -generation communication networks (5G). For this, the company can create a joint venture in equal shares, write Vedomosti .

The plan approved by operators provides for work aimed at releasing radio frequencies in the ranges of 700 MHz, 3.4–3.8 GHz, 4.4–4.99 GHz and 24.25–29.5 GHz in all regions of Russia. A joint venture of companies can be created on the basis of LLC "New Digital Solutions" (SP "Rostelecom" and "MegaFon"). According to the head of the company Vadim Semenov, it is a joint venture to highlight a scarce radio frequency spectrum in priority ranges, which all participants will use together on equal terms. At the same time, a joint venture will not be a telecom operator.

Consulting CEO Konstantin Ankilov noted that the creation of the joint venture will give operators more or less equal opportunities, but when creating an infrastructure operator, it will be necessary to coordinate equal access to all operators to the infrastructure. The expert added that the 5G development situation begins to develop according to the scenario similar to what was with 3G and 4G networks, when all operators received frequencies and successfully launched the nets. According to Ankilov, the cooperation of operators may become the basis for combining efforts in the construction of fifth generation networks, which will reduce the costs of companies.

Recall that in August the Ministry of Communications was proposed to consider a frequency range of 4.4–4.99 GHz as a priority for introducing a 5G communication standard in Russia, while a priority range for the development of fifth -generation networks in the world is considered to be a range of 3.4–3.8 GHz, but Russian operators cannot access it, since it is used by military, who are not in a hurry to transfer to transfer frequencies to companies. “Today, the entire special satellite communication is in the range of 3.4-3.8 GHz. If you massively release it for civil use, you will have to change the entire satellite group and the ranges of all acceptance devices. Who will pay all this? This is a lot of money,” said Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov in September.