Russian telcos ink 4G deal

network across the country by 2014, writes FT.com.

VimpelCom, MegaFon, Mobile TeleSystems and state-owned Rostelecom have signed a deal with Russia's Yota that will see the Russian wireless broadband company become their 4G network provider.

Yota, which was set up just three years ago, will handle the roll-out of a high-speed network based on technology known as LTE to 180 cities and 70 million people in Russia using its existing spectrum allocation.

According to AsiaOne, the deal, signed in the presence of prime minister Vladimir Putin, will enable the four to provide high-speed mobile broadband services without building separate networks, meeting increasing demand for data transfer at high speed.

Bloomberg reveals that 4G is usually offered alongside existing lower-speed networks at a higher price.

It requires consumers to buy new handsets and modems capable of exchanging data at the higher speeds.