Page 15 - bne_Tech_04_2020

Telecom
April 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
Russia ready for state- private JV for 5G rollout
Russian mobile operators could receive 5G frequencies auction-free should the state receive a share in the joint venture that would undertake the 5G rollout in the country, Vedomosti daily reported on April 6 citing a strategy drafted by the Ministry of Communication.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, to meet the challenges of the costly 5G rollout, at the end of 2019 Russia's largest telecom carriers Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Veon, Megafon and state-controlled Rostelecom agreed to combine their efforts in developing and optimising the usage of 5G network.
However, the terms of co-operation in such
a joint venture have remained largely unclear. In addition, the Ministry of Communication did not support the idea of 5G rollout by a joint venture of telecom operators, sticking to the idea of a single nationwide operator instead.
Reportedly, the ministry is now ready to distribute the frequencies equally among all JV participants, in order to speed up the rollout of 5G and stimulate investment, should the state get a share
in the company. The JV planned to prepare the frequencies in the 3.4–3.8, 4.4–4.99, and 24.25– 29.5GHz ranges.
However, analysts surveyed by Vedomosti note that there is still no clarity on which frequencies would be distributed in the first place.
The cost of developing the network in the 3.4–3.8 range for Russia's largest cities with over 1mn inhabitants is estimated at RUB160bn ($2.09bn) by the ministry, but alternative ranges would require more funding, as there is no readily available compatible equipment.
As analysed by bne IntelliNews, the introduction of the 5G network has been impeded by a lack of clear policy, decisions on framework frequency allocation, rollout strategy and the lack of co- operation within and with the private sector.
The Digital Economy National Project had intended to launch 5G in one pilot Russian city by 2021 and in ten cities by 2022, but the plans are likely to be pushed out to at least 2024.
Romanian telco group Digi objects to Hungary’s 5G licence auction
Digi Communications, the owner of the Romanian telecom group RCS&RDS, considers the decision of the Hungarian state media authority (NMHH) to conclude the 5G frequency auction in record time to be “unfair”. Digi says this defies the legal action taken by the company, whose bid was rejected in
September 2019, Mediafax reported quoting a press release from the company.
Digi claims that NNMH obstructed its access to the auction based on the false claim that a court would have issued a final decision against the Romanian