Wireless telecoms firm Yota said Friday that it decided to develop Long-Term Evolution technology, or LTE, dealing a major blow to competing standard WiMax.
Yota, which is already one of the world's top WiMax operators, plans to spend $100 million on the rollout of LTE networks in five Russian cities this year, the company said in e-mailed comments. Total investments are estimated at up to $2 billion.
"The world's biggest operators and device makers, such as Nokia and Samsung, have chosen the LTE standard. Following the global trend, we are seeking to give our clients the best solutions," the company said.
"Yota is a services company; for us technology is an instrument. It's clear that the LTE standard is becoming the main trend in wireless communications," chief executive Denis Sverdlov said a statement on the company's web site.
The first city to get LTE will be Kazan, followed by Novosibirsk and Samara, Yota said.
During 2008 and 2009, one mobile operator after another chose LTE, a natural evolution of their current 3G networks, over data-centric WiMax, for their next generation, more efficient mobile networks.
The company, founded in 2007, operates in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Sochi and Krasnodar. It is also active in Belarus, Peru and Nicaragua.
Yota had planned to launch WiMax in 15 more Russian cities, which will instead receive LTE service. The company will use the same 2.5-2.7 GHz frequency band in which its WiMax networks currently operate.
Yota has signed contracts for delivery of 1,000 base stations but declined to say who the equipment makers were.
It plans to launch LTE in Moscow and St. Petersburg at the end of 2011.
(Reuters, MT)