5G Development in Russia

With the race to implement 5G across the European landscape, the European’s countries have agreed to use the millimeter band (26 GHz), the frequencies used by the WiMAX system (3.4 -3.8 GHz band) and the 700 MHz band. While the 700 MHz band frequencies have been allocated to the development of the 5G network. The counties surrounding Europe have not all cooperate yet to do the same. The main country affected by is Poland, while Ukraine and Belarus have promised to stop using the 700 MHz band for television. Russia has not issued an official decision.

International agreements have stated the frequencies in the 694-790 MHz band should be allocated to cellular network. With the development of the 5G technology it could allowed to be used in any city. Russia has agreed to use the 700MHz band after June 30, 2020 for mobile internet services. If Russia is not willing to leave the 700 MHz band open for the 5G it could disrupt Poland from its border through up to 300 Km inside of its territory. The European Commission is going to step in to negotiate with Russia.

In the meantime, Huawei the Chinese telecom giant has announced it will build the 5G network in Russia. The project is currently being tested in Kazan.

Huawei is planning to help Russia build its network, but also taking an active part in the development of Russia’s national digital economy strategy.

Lately China has made significant progress in 5G technology keeping the United States trailing behind them. Per Lin Ruiqi, Huawei’s senior vice president “last year Huawei displayed 5G customer terminals in the first place and the tech is in the leading position” With the R&D Huawei has invested more than $60M in the past years.

Kazan could be the first “smart city” that could include the research and development of intelligence traffic signals and safety facilities in addition to the 5G technology.