MOSCOW—Despite a recent Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) test by one of Russia’s largest operators, Russian Communications Minister Leonid Reiman refused to disclose the timeline for issuing the first third-generation (3G) license in the country.
“The main barrier today is a lack of 3G equipment, a lack of 3G handsets. The initially declared speed of 2 Megabits per second (Mbps) has not been achieved,” he said, adding that the licenses will be issued “as soon as the equipment appears.”
However, Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Siemens successfully demonstrated an operating fragment of a UMTS trial network in the last days of 2001.
The demonstration included all the main operation modes; ensured a high-quality and stable connection between wireless handsets and with fixed telephones; provided wireless Internet access at a speed of 64 kilobits per second (kbps); and demonstrated location-based services, video telephony, a high-resolution video screen and video streaming in the MPEG4 format.
“Today we have seen what will become reality in the coming years. Now we can definitely say that Russia has gotten a platform to prepare the 3G licensing system,” said Alexander Krupnov, president of the 3G Association.
Last year, MTS launched trial GPRS networks in the second-biggest Russian city of St. Petersburg, as well as in the cities of Kostroma, Tver and Yaroslavl.
