LTE-450 network went live in Armenia last month
International telecommunications group VimpelCom is currently evaluating opportunities to roll out LTE-450 networks in other markets, the operator’s CTO Yogesh Malik told RCR Wireless News. The executive said the possibility of launching in further markets is dependent on the regulatory environment in each country as well as when the spectrum is allocated for 4G services.
VimpelCom launched an LTE-450 network in Armenia in July, where VimpelCom was able to get its license adapted to allow LTE in the 450 MHz spectrum band. In Armenia, VimpelCom will be able to utilize all the allocated spectrum for LTE shortly, when the full migration is completed, the executive said.
According to Malik, the market penetration of LTE-450 will not be vast due to the limited number of terminals that can work on this frequency band, but added that VimpelCom is significantly increasing access with the frequency.
The executive also said the LTE-450 network presents VimpelCom an opportunity to deliver broader coverage, using less than half the number of the base stations needed for LTE 800 or LTE 900 frequencies.
The rollout of the LTE-450 network in Armenia took approximately six months. Malik said the telco expects to expand the network in this market to further improve the coverage and data speeds, adding that the LTE-450 band is a maximum of 5 megahertz wide, giving a theoretical maximum data speed of about 30 megabits per second.
VimpelCom operates in Russia, Italy, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Laos and Zimbabwe.
The company posted revenue of $2.16 billion in the second quarter of 2016, down 16% compared to the year-ago quarter. Net profits for the period totaled $138 million, up from $108 million in Q2 2015.
