Report: VimpelCom’s claim for frequencies to test 5G not approved

MOSCOW, Apr 9 (PRIME) -- An application of Russia’s VimpelCom, one of the country’s biggest mobile operators, for frequencies to test 5G in nine regions was not approved on April 5 at a meeting of the State Radio Frequency Commission because of objections of state corporation Roscosmos, business daily Vedomosti said late on April 6 on its Web site.

A source close to the commission said VimpelCom intended to test the new standard on the bands of 3.4–3.8 GHz and 25.25–29.50 GHz. It had been the operator’s second application, and the first one was opposed by Roscosmos and the Federal Guard Service.

A VimpelCom spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

The operator, however, will have another chance to push forward its application for frequency resources at a meeting of the commission on April 16, the source said.

Under the digital economy program, 5G networks should be unrolled in all Russian cities with the population of over 1 million people by 2020. The new standard carries up to 1 gigabyte of data per second as compared to 150 megabyte per second in the previous generation, LTE.

The new technology is highly in demand for the Internet of Things: it will be able to connect hundreds of thousands of meters and automatic devices at the same time.

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