Megafon also planning a 5G testbed
Russian mobile operator Beeline has launched a 5G pilot area near the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russian press reported.
The launch of the 5G pilot area comes after an agreement signed between the telco and Moscow municipal government.
Part of the 5G pilot area is located near the central entrance to the Luzhniki Stadium, where a high volume of users can be tested during events, according to the report.
Tests have been carried out using several models of smartphones, including the Huawei Mate 20 X and Huawei Mate X. Maximum broadband speed reached during initial tests was 2.19 Gbps.
The 5G infrastructure for the pilot was provided by infrastructure operator Russian Towers. This is Beeline’s second 5G test in Russia, following an initial test carried out in a laboratory in 2018.
Vasil Latsanich, general director of Beeline, said: “Today we are in active stages of preparation for the launch of 5G networks, testing new generation networks simultaneously with several vendors in different cities of Russia. We expect the first 5G smartphones and routers to appear in Beeline stores this year.”
Beeline also said that over 90% of its network in capital Moscow is 5G-ready.
Rival operators Tele2 Russia and MTS have already set up 5G pilot zones in Moscow. Tele2 Russia has recently launched its 5G pilot in partnership with Ericsson. The 5G pilot zone is deployed in the 28GHz band in non-Standalone (NSA) mode, the frequency band for anchor LTE band is Band 7 (2600MHz), and the 5G pocket routers supporting 28GHz are used as end-user devices for mobile broadband services with ultra-high speeds, Ericsson previously said in a statement.
Ericsson also highlighted that the 5G area in central Moscow is ready for all kinds of demos exploring the opportunities of 5G, including immersive VR entertainment, smart buildings and other consumer and industrial use cases.
Meanwhile, MTS has also recently launched its 5G pilot network zone in Moscow, in partnership with Huawei. The pilot network is located at the VDNKh Exhibition Center, using the 28GHz and 4.9GHz frequency bands, with tests to include smart city applications for security, urban services management and transport systems. MTS and Huawei have also kicked off a pilot 5G network in the town of Kronshtadt near St Petersburg
MegaFon, is also planning to launch a 5G pilot zone in Moscow. The telco recently announced new tests of 5G technology, in which it achieved 2.45 Gbps with the Nokia AirScale base station and smartphones from Sony powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
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