Having pondered over the relative merits of which 4G technology made the best business and technical arguments, the Russian state telecoms giant Svyazinvest has selected LTE technology for its 4G mobile networks, its chief executive said, over rival technology WiMAX
However, a significant factor for any LTE vendor considering making a bid is that, under the tender rules, the network must be built using Russian-made equipment. Interestingly, the Russia telecoms minister admitted that the government had yet to finalise the criteria defining which LTE manufacturers would be considered local.
Commenting on why LTE had been decided upon, the Svyazinvest CEO, Yevgeny Yurchenko, said that LTE was more promising than WiMAX. "Globally, there are many more manufacturers of LTE equipment, and this means that network base stations that support this standard are cheaper."
The long-distance Russian call operator Rostelecom, controlled by Svyazinvest, has won licences, which were auctioned earlier this year to, provide services in the 2.3 to 2.4GHz band in 38 out of 40 regions in Russia.
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Reuters
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