Russia launches its first 5G network for trial use in Moscow
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Moscow: Russia's top telecom operator MTS announced on Friday that it has launched the country's first pilot 5G network in Moscow.
The network is provided in the 4.9 GHz spectrum band in 14 popular locations in the Russian capital, the city's main tourist attractions, including Lubyanka Square near Red Square, the Moscow City financial district and the VDNKh exhibition center, the company said in a statement.
Currently, only selected users with 5G-compatible smartphones can connect to the unlimited 5G Internet with a speed of up to 1.5 Gigabytes per second.
In July 2020, MTS was granted its first 5G license, which covers 83 Russian regions and expires in July 2025.
MTS signed a 5G development deal with Huawei in 2019 as the Chinese company faced pressure from the United States, which blacklisted it over spying concerns.
Its 14-zone network appears two years after Sweden's Ericsson announced the opening of Russia's first 5G zone on Tverskaya Street with MTS' rival Tele2.
Russia adopted a roadmap last year intending to roll out 5G networks across 10 cities by 2024.
