Russian telecommunications operators VimpelCom Russia and MTS have signed an agreement under which they will jointly plan, develop and operate 4G/LTE networks in 36 regions in Russia. Both the companies under the initiative of Ministry of Communications and Mass Media for the Russian Federation will build and operate 4G/LTE base stations in 19 regions, while VimpelCom will build and operate 4G/LTE base stations in 17 regions of Russia. Within the first seven years of the project, VimpelCom Russia and MTS plan to share base stations, platforms, infrastructure and resources of the transportation network, with each operator maintaining its own core network. Additionally, the agreement does not limit strategic development and investment opportunities for either party, allowing both to pursue the construction of base stations to provide additional coverage for their respective customers.
The initiative is expected to provide means for operators to reduce costs and further enhance network coverage in the regions contributing to elimination of the digital divide in Russia.
Mikhail Slobodin, CEO VimpelCom Russia
Expanding the 4G/LTE networks in Russia will enable an improved experience for customers of both VimpelCom Russia and MTS and allow for continued mobile data growth. We expect the agreement to improve the availability and quality of the services to our customers. According to our estimates, more than half of data service users will migrate to 4G/LTE services by 2019 and LTE smartphones are currently one of the fastest growing categories of handsets with sales doubling over the past year. This partnership boosts 4G/LTE expansion in Russia, creating a modern telecommunications infrastructure which will expand 4G/LTE coverage and improve the performance of our networks. We thank the Regulator for the preparation of the necessary legal framework to enable this partnership and look forward to the early adoption of the legislation which will allow us to double the maximum speed of the mobile Internet by sharing the frequency spectrum.
Andrei Dubovskov, President, MDS
This partnership between VimpelCom Russia and MTS establishes a unique precedent in Russia, leading the way for other companies to actively begin sharing network infrastructure. Further, this partnership presents the opportunity to deploy 4G/LTE networks in areas that were previously unattractive for a single operator and provide excellent coverage due to the variety of sites for base stations. We expect that millions of people in large and small cities within the 36 regions of Russia will benefit from high-speed mobile Internet within two years. To a large extent, the implementation of this ambitious project was possible due to the legislative initiatives and foresight of the Regulator in recognizing the benefits of operators sharing and using scarce frequency resources efficiently.
