Russian mobile operators Beeline and MTS have agreed on the shared use of spectrum to develop their LTE networks in another 20 regions across the country. MTS and Beeline signed a supplementary agreement to their existing cooperation from 2014 on the deployment of LTE networks, adding the 2,600 MHz band for providing LTE services in 20 regions.
The list includes the Kaluga, Omsk, Khabarovsk, Pskov, Vologda, Yaroslavl, Murmansk, Nizhniy-Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Oryol, Sakhalin, Tula and Orenburg regions, as well as Ingushetia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Chechnya, Kabarda-Balkaria, Mordovia, Altay and Chuvashia republics. The amendment allows for further expansion of the region list for the shared use of frequencies. The agreement will run for six years and may be extended.
Vimpelcom said in a statement that the first year of the cooperation with MTS proved "highly effective and promising". MTS said that in the regions where the companies are jointly operating base stations, LTE subscribers are growing 30 percent faster than elsewhere in Russia. In addition, construction costs are down 10-15 percent compared to initial estimates thanks to the network-sharing.
As a result of the new agreement, the operators said they will be able to double peak LTE speeds to 150 Mbps and cover remote areas faster. They also thanked Russia’s Ministry of Communications for preparing the regulatory framework and laws making the spectrum sharing possible.
Under the operators' initial agreement from December 2014, MTS will build and operate LTE base stations for shared use in 19 regions, while VimpelCom will build and operate LTE base stations for shared use in 17 Russian regions. The agreement runs for seven years and covers sharing of base stations, platforms, infrastructure and transport network resources in those regions. In the first year of the project, the operators launched shared LTE networks in 31 of the 36 regions.
