Mobile operator Tele2 Russia, despite its support for the development of LTE technology in Russia, believes that the new requirements for LTE equipment should only apply to new construction, without rebuilding all existing networks, according to the statement released by the company. For the new equipment to meet operators’ commercial interests, it needs to be competitive as well as compatible with companies’ other equipment, Tele2 adds.

LTE licenses for telecoms firms in Russia expire in September. The head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev announced in June that the ministry is considering the possibility of introducing restrictions when renewing licenses, which will include installing only Russian-made LTE base stations by operators.

In August, the General Radio Frequency Centre (GRFC), a Russian regulatory body, plans to prolong the current permits to use the frequencies of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, and 2.5-2.7 GHz for LTE networks for another 10 years term, but telecoms operators will have to fulfill several conditions. Among them, the construction of LTE networks using only domestic equipment from the unified register of Russian electronic products.

Original (in Russian)