The Belarusian infrastructure operator beCloud announced the launch of LTE-Advanced (4G) technology into commercial operation in all regional centers of the country, and in January high-speed mobile Internet will be available in more than 40 settlements of Belarus. Bye - only for MTS subscribers.

4G for 75% of the country's urban population

On December 23, fourth-generation communication technology will become available to users of Gomel, Brest, Vitebsk, Mogilev, and Grodno, LTE network coverage in Minsk will expand, and will appear in the capital’s suburbs - Zhdanovichi, Ratomka, Kolodishchi, Senitsa, Stayki, Tarasovo and other suburbs.

In just a month, in January 2017, LTE-Advanced will work in more than thirty regions - Borisov, Bobruisk, Molodechno, Baranovichi, Soligorsk, Pinsk, Kobrin, Pruzhany, Lida, Mozyr, Dobrush, Shklov, Orsha, Polotsk, Novopolotsk, Braslav, Lepel, Verhnedvinsk and other cities (full list settlements, see the end of the material).

Note that for now, LTE communications in the regions will be available only to MTS subscribers. However, beCloud is already negotiating with life:).

Capital and regional LTE base stations will operate in the 1800 MHz range (with further development network will use the 2600 MHz band).

"Number of subscribers mobile operators is growing, which means the load on the network is also increasing. That's why beCloud increased throughput LTE networks in the capital by 40%, while simultaneously improving coverage in a number of problem areas", - said Sergey Poblaguev, CEO of beCloud.

4G will become available to more than 5.5 million Belarusians. And this is 75% of the country's urban population. By the end of 2017, beCloud plans to provide LTE to major large populated cities. In the future, 4G may appear in all regional centers.

28 terabytes per day

Significant interest in the technology is confirmed by monthly increasing user activity. Since the launch of the LTE network, the average daily traffic generated by users has grown more than six times - to 28 terabytes. The total traffic for the year of network operation in the capital exceeded 4.5 petabytes, or 4 thousand 608 terabytes.

“Over the year, 170,000 subscribers in the capital made their choice in favor of 4G. In Minsk, we overcame the psychological barrier of 25% of the total number of data users, followed by mass consumption mobile internet fourth generation, subscriber comfort and the key to successful business", - shared Vladimir Karpovich, General Director of the mobile operator MTS.

The main advantage of LTE technology is much higher mobile Internet speeds. And if the maximum incoming speed for subscribers of Belarusian 3G networks is limited to 42 Mbit/s, then in the 4G network it reaches 150 Mbit/s ( maximum value, in Minsk the average value is 25 Mbit/s).

According to beCloud forecasts, compared to average speeds in the capital, average LTE speeds in the first months of launch in the regions of Belarus may increase to 30-35 Mbit/s.

5G testing begins

In addition, already in 2017, beCloud, together with leading telecommunications vendors, intends to begin developing the fifth generation 5G communication technology, which will be able to provide the highest data transfer speed at the moment - 1 Gbit/s and higher.

The parties will jointly explore 5G and work on developing requirements for this standard.

The introduction of 5G will provide users with ubiquitous broadband mobile access in Internet. Among other things, 5G will be focused on the “Internet of Things,” providing data transmission for various types of devices: cars, sensors, elements of urban infrastructure, industrial equipment, etc.

With the advent of such a network, we should expect the emergence of new services, as well as the evolution of existing ones. According to analysts, with the advent of 5G, both the number of devices that can be connected to the Internet and the consumption of Internet traffic will increase, and the number of simultaneous connections to the network can reach 100 billion.

LTE from velcom

At the moment, only MTS and life:) subscribers can use high-speed 4G Internet in Belarus. We checked with beCloud when velcom clients will get access to the LTE network:

"MWe continue to negotiate with the mobile operator, we are doing everything possible on our part to make LTE Advanced technology available to its subscribers.",” noted beCloud.

The main topic of the Belarus IGF 2017 Internet Governance Forum held on May 16 at the Minsk Marriott Hotel was, perhaps, the so-called “Internet of Things” (IoT).

According to experts from various countries, we are eyewitnesses, one might say, of a technological revolution, as a result of which there are more and more different kinds of “smart things” in the world every year. It is expected that in a couple of years, tablets and smart phones with watches that are already familiar to many will occupy no more than a third of the total number of things capable of interacting with each other or with the external environment.

Implementation and development of the concept of “Internet of Things” - a global trend of the present and near future in the field information technologies, allows us to significantly reduce or completely eliminate the need for human participation in various kinds of economic and social processes, which in turn leads to a transformation of the lifestyle of both an individual and the state as a whole.

Belarus is not objectively in danger of becoming a full-fledged IoT country, so to speak, in the near future, but the question of the appearance of the fifth generation in the country mobile communications This is not the first time that 5G, developed in many respects precisely for the needs of the “Internet of Things,” is rising at a high level.

At a press conference held in mid-April, the Minister of Communications and Information of Belarus Sergei Popkov spoke on this issue: We will not lag behind the world in the implementation of the project (5G).

At the end of April, at the annual exhibition forum TIBO-2017, the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and the Belarusian 4G monopolist beCloud for the first time in Belarus, according to the latter’s press service, tested 5G speeds, which eventually reached 2 Gbit/s.

Last Tuesday at IGF-2017, another high-ranking official spoke in optimistic tones about the prospects for 5G in Belarus. I hope that already in this five-year period we will see the implementation new technology 5G,” said Olga Fedoreeva, head of the telecommunications department at the Ministry of Communications and Information.

In addition, at the last event, the Ministry of Communications, represented by Olga Fedoreeva, once again confirmed the initially existing plans to provide 4G communications to all settlements countries with a population of over 50 thousand people. Voicing the current figure for 4G coverage of the population of Belarus at 42%, the representative of the Ministry of Communications also echoed Minister Sergei Popkov, who announced identical coverage more than a month ago.

More relevant information, for example, regarding the launch in Minsk of the second LTE frequency band (2600 MHz, FDD, band 7), which was planned to be carried out last year, unfortunately, was not announced. Meanwhile, as many Belarusian Internet users note, the current 4G coverage, even in the capital, where the high-speed network was launched almost a year and a half ago, is currently far from ideal. also in recent months Cases of complaints from subscribers of MTS, life:) and United Networks (Unet) at 4G Internet speeds have become more frequent, which in many cases have become comparable or even lower than in the third generation communication networks 3G.

A week ago, a public LTE network started operating in Belarus for the second time. The infrastructure was built by the state operator beCloud, services based on it are provided by MTS. Judging by the fact that other market players have not (yet) used the infrastructure, it is likely that the largest operator either has a certain handicap, or the terms of cooperation did not suit either velcom or life:). The third option is no less likely: MTS’s competitors deliberately did not spend money on LTE, considering inclusion in the network an unjustified step. Nevertheless, the arrival of 4G in Belarus took place. Let's hope forever, and not like then - with Yota.

The first public demonstration of LTE in Belarus happened back in October 2008, just two years after the world premiere. The forecast from Nokia Siemens Networks of those years sounds interesting: “By 2015, when mobile phones will be used by 5 billion people, and most terminals will be able to show HDTV and take pictures with a 10-megapixel camera, LTE will be necessary like air, according to Nokia Siemens Networks.”

Bold for a time when the first version of the still marginal Android OS had just been released? By 2015, there were more phones than people on the planet, HDTV and 10 megapixel cameras are not uncommon for modern gadgets, the need for traffic has increased hundreds of times.

Since then, LTE has been shown in Belarus more than once. At industry exhibitions and through the efforts of market players, in 2011 it suddenly became known that Beltelecom, life:) and MTS received the right to certain public network tests from March 1 to May 1, 2012. The tests were carried out by at least MTS: the operator turned on only five base stations, providing access to only one and for a limited period.

However, things didn't go any further. Suddenly, Yota appeared on the Belarusian market, spending only $10 million on the construction of a very modest network and an as yet unknown amount for the right to enter the country. At one time, life:), which bought 80% of the state-owned BeST CJSC and a small head start on 3G, paid several hundred million into the state budget... One way or another, Yota left as quickly as it came, but the country was left without cellular communications fourth generation for another 3 years.

At some point, it became known about the formation of the state infrastructure operator beCloud, which has the roots of the National Traffic Exchange Center, and that it would be the one that would build the LTE network. From this it can be understood that individual licenses mobile operators they haven’t received it and won’t receive it – the state will make money on 4G.

The construction of the network proceeded with difficulty and was completed only in 2015, probably due to financial difficulties new structure. One way or another, Belarus became the 148th country to introduce LTE into commercial operation. While the authorities were resolving issues with the allocation of frequencies, bargaining for licenses and finding funds for beCloud, we fell somewhat behind the world. Well, whoever remembers the past is out of sight;)

Now about the present. Why do you need 4G? It would seem like an obvious answer: to increase the speed of Internet access. Of course, the main one LTE feature is a significant increase in data transfer speed: from theoretical 42.2 Mbit/s in 3G to 171 Mbit/s. The network that is included in Minsk has a ceiling of 112 Mbit/s; it primarily depends on the width of the frequency channel. beCloud, as far as I know, plans to increase the speed.

In addition, LTE cannot transmit voice traffic, taking over the functions of only the data network. There are only 14 VoLTE networks in the world; in other cases, the phone is forced to switch to the 2G/3G network during a call. This is good and bad at the same time: jumps from one network to another require energy resources and small delays, but the subscriber does not clog the BS channel with voice. LTE, by the way, is also quite a power-hungry technology - smartphones now discharge even faster.

LTE is beneficial in many ways for the operator, who is able to offload the main networks, providing subscribers without 4G terminals with better service conditions. Also, the introduction of 4G requires the company to expand its core network, which has a beneficial effect on everyone.

It is impossible to say that a large number of subscribers have a need for LTE. Of course, there are always people who are forced to use only mobile Internet, and the faster this Internet, the better for them. But for most of us, the mobile Internet is a tool of a portable device - a smartphone or tablet. 3G is enough for both smartphones and tablets to watch the “heaviest” videos on Vimeo. It's easy to check - just try it.

At the moment, 4G has more of a marketing value than a purely practical one. Well, really, why not download movies using the mobile Internet? As for the rest, I’m sure no one can distinguish 10 Mbit/sec from 25 or even 100 Mbit/sec by eye: at such speeds, visually pages load equally quickly. True, LTE allows you to significantly reduce ping, and this is always nice in our fast-paced times.

But still. Since speed is the main declared value of LTE, let's see what the 4G network in Minsk is capable of. Moreover, it is already really loaded: about 60 thousand devices are registered in it.

I made all measurements on different days in different places cities and even at different times (mostly during working hours). At one point, two measurements were made: one to the optimal Belarusian server, the other to the Kyiv server of the Volya provider. Ookla Speedtest software was used, no other factors were taken into account except for one condition - all measurements were made outdoors, since LTE is very sensitive to interference in the form of concrete and steel (by the way, another argument in favor of the marketing, but not practical value of 4G: if It’s impossible to use it on a laptop in a crib, so what’s the point anyway?).

Although... wait, LTE works on my work sofa near the Minsk Arena. The results are the same as in a well-functioning 3G network.

Let's go outside. In the area of ​​the Musical Comedy Theater on Myasnikova Street:

Or in Rakovsky Suburb:

As you can see, the results vary quite a bit. At the same time, the ping to the Belarusian server varies within 12-15 ms, to the Kyiv server - 33-35.

And these are the results of measurements directly at the MTS head office in Minsk:

The result is noticeably better, and paradoxically, the Kiev server produces noticeably better results. A similar situation, by the way, occurs everywhere.

Kalinin Square:

It has been experimentally found that under “ideal conditions” (conditionally ideal, because in a city it is often impossible to understand what is interfering with the propagation of radio waves - it could be dense buildings or even a tower crane), LTE network beCloud shows a stable result around 50 Mbit/sec. At the same time, a foreign server gives the same indicators with the exception of response speed.

It is important to note that some undisclosed factors may affect the results. So, when you try to measure the speed to the MGTS Beltelecom server, you often get a strikingly bad result. Approximately the same indicator – below 1 Mbit/sec – was recorded in different parts of the city:

Changing the server to another Belarusian or Ukrainian one immediately changes the situation:

In the very center of Minsk, near GUM, everything is very good again:

In general, judging by dozens of my measurements using Ookla Speedtest, we can conclude that the expected downlink on the street in the LTE network of Minsk is about 35-50 Mbit/sec, the uplink is slightly higher. The location of the server outside the country's borders only affects the ping; it is not uncommon for the speed of a foreign server to be higher than the Belarusian one.

Although the network is very sensitive to interference, it is noticeably different in terms of operating comfort compared to 3G. Without a doubt, there are “anomalous” zones in the city with higher or lower data transfer speeds, but I want to note the very smooth and, so to speak, neat coverage of Minsk.

It is important to note that the price for LTE from MTS does not differ from the price for 3G/EDGE. In fact, this is the most common misconception that I have encountered among users: they say that you need to buy a tariff separately, then you will have access to 4G. It’s not like that – you just need a device that supports the corresponding standard. Of course, for all of us, ordinary users, this is a significant plus.

Commercial exploitation of fifth generation communication technology (5G) will soon begin in Belarus. This was announced by First Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Dmitry Shedko on October 3 in Minsk at the opening of the national forum on Internet governance Belarus IGF - 2018, reports BelaPAN .

Photo pixabay.com

“The Ministry of Communications and Information is maximally promoting the digital transformation of Belarusian society. We are following global trends: commercial operation of 5G will soon begin in our country. This is a technology for the Internet of things, collection and transmission of large telemetry data, heavy content. And we are proud that Belarusian users have every chance to be one of the pioneers of this technology in the world,” Shedko noted.

It is expected that full-fledged 5G test zones will appear in Belarus in 2019. The speed of this technology was first tested in the country in April 2017. The launch was carried out by the Belarusian infrastructure operator beCloud and Chinese company Huawei. During the tests, we managed to achieve a speed of about 2.048 Mbit/s. The theoretical limit for 4G speeds is 1,000 Mbit/s.

According to experts, the introduction of 5G will provide users with widespread broadband mobile Internet access. Among other things, the 5G standard will be focused on the Internet of things, providing data transmission for various types of devices: cars, sensors, elements of urban infrastructure, industrial equipment, and so on.

It is worth noting that the LTE Advanced (4G) network in Belarus was launched into commercial operation on December 17, 2015. Its construction is being carried out by the state-controlled infrastructure operator beCloud for its subsequent provision for use by all interested operators. The 4G service, powered by the beCloud network, is available to subscribers of mobile operators MTS and Life:). The operator velcom declares that it is technologically fully ready to independently deploy a 4G network in Belarus in the most as soon as possible- in case of obtaining a license from the state. Operators MTS and life:) previously reported exceeding the two million mark in the number of subscribers connected to the 4G network.

The Belarus IGF Internet Governance Forum has been held annually since 2016. This is a platform for dialogue between representatives of the state, business, non-profit organizations, the academic community and civil society on Internet development issues. The permanent organizer of the forum in Belarus is the provider of hosting services and cloud solutions for business, domain registrar and technical administrator of national domain zones.BY and.BEL company hoster.by.

The Internet Governance Forum format appeared in 2006 at the initiative of the UN. The main principles of the IGF are openness and representation of all interested parties to discuss issues related to the stable, sustainable and safe development of the Internet industry. For 12 years now, IGFs have been held all over the world at national, regional and global levels.