MOSCOW-CDMA technology based on the IS-95 standard continues to push forward in Russia despite numerous restrictions and the order to abandon the 800 MHz band altogether by 2010.
The Kodotel carrier in Voronezh (Central Russia) with 30,000 subscribers signed a US$6 million contract with Korean company LG Electronics for the expansion of its IS-95 network. Kodotel spokesman Alexey Shamarin said the project is to be completed by the end of the year, and the network capacity is to reach 50,000 clients.
Market experts believe Kodotel has time enough until 2010 to return the investments with profits for the shareholders.
Another regional IS-95 carrier also said it will have to expand its capacities soon. Igor Perezhogin, head of operator Uralsvyazinform in the Chelyabinsk region in the Urals, said the expansion is necessitated by the growth in the number of clients. His carrier currently services close to 35,000 subscribers.
However, the problem is that Uralsvyazinform operates Qualcomm-made equipment, which is now produced by Ericsson and needs new certification. But the Communications Ministry, which wants to oust IS-95 from the country altogether, “refuses to certify the new equipment of Ericsson, while the certified LG equipment does not dock with ours,” Perezhogin said.
The same problem is faced by the biggest IS-95 carrier Sonet in Moscow with 75,000 clients, as the certification period of its Lucent Technologies-supplied equipment has expired. “The carrier is ready to expand, however, the Communications Ministry refuses to certify new equipment,” SONET Director General Vladimir Morozyuk complained.
He believes “there are no legal grounds to deny certification, and therefore, the issue can be resolved in court.”
