SIMFEROPOL/MOSCOW – Krymtelekom put a 3G mobile network into commercial operation in Crimea on Feb. 1, becoming the second mobile services provider on the Black Sea peninsula, an Interfax correspondent reported from the launch ceremony.
The company has built 400 base stations on the peninsula with its own funds and money from private investors. Krymtelekom’s 3G network will provide mobile data speeds of up to 42 Mbps.
Krymtelekom plans to launch a 4G network in the 1800 MHz bandwidth in June.
Crimean Deputy Prime Minister and Information and Communications Minister Dmitry Polonsky said last year that Krymtelekom would use the equipment of Kyivstar, the Ukrainian subsidiary of Vimpelcom Ltd. Kyivstar’s assets in Crimea were nationalized in February 2015.
Since Crimea ‘became part of Russia’ in 2014, the only mobile operator in the region has been LLC K-Telecom, which operates under the WinMobile brand. The ultimate beneficiaries of K-Telecom are not known. The provider received frequencies previously used by MTS Ukraine, a subsidiary of leading Russian mobile provider Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), and launched its network on August 4, 2014.
