5G technology to be introduced in Moscow

At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sergei Sobyanin and General Director at Megafon Sergei Soldatenkov signed an Agreement of Cooperation aimed at developing communication services and information and telecommunications technologies in Moscow.

The new document provides for creating pilot projects on the development of new digital technologies and communications services. Projects in the spheres of virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, Smart City technology and 5G will be the priority. To facilitate the plan, the city will develop the necessary information and telecommunications infrastructure.

The Moscow Government and Megafon also agreed to create venues for showcasing achievements in the development of the new technologies.

The document was signed in accord with the provisions of the Russian Federation’s Digital Economy State Programme, which provides for creating pilot 5G networks before the third quarter of 2019 and the commercial launch of these networks before 2022.

The agreement has a term of five years. Unless one of the parties decides to terminate it, the agreement will be automatically extended for another five years.  

Megafon is one of the largest telecommunications companies in Russia. Along with Vympelcom (Beeline), MTS and T2 Mobile (Tele2), Megafon forms the “big four” of Russia’s telecommunications providers.

Megafon provides telecommunications services in all Russian regions, plus Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Tajikistan. At the end of 2017, its subscriber base included over 77 million people.

In Moscow and the Moscow Region, Megafon has a total of 34,000 mobile phone masts of all kinds, allowing the company to provide services for over 13.5 million people.