What would happen if Sprint, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile all decided to do LTE at the same time? Well other than make customer happy that is. It would be wonderful. Your phone would work on all networks. You would have high speed data where ever you went.
The is just what is going on in Russia. Yota is building the 4G network for the whole country. Beeline, Megafon, MTS and Rostelekom are all going to share it rather than each operator doing their own thing like here. The four majors over there will be able to a buy 25% stake in Yota. The goal here is to have LTE in 180 cities with a total population of more than 70 million citizens by 2014.
Press Realease [shorten]
Russia Takes 4G Lead With Strategic Approach to Nationwide Infrastructure Build
– Rival Operators Buy-Into Yota’s Vision of the Future of Telecoms
Press Release Source: Yota On Thursday March 3, 2011, 1:09 pm EST
Yota, the Russian mobile broadband company, has today signed a deal with the country’s main network operators that will place Russia at the forefront of the development of 4G telecoms services.
The deal will see Yota become the 4G network provider for the Russian telecoms market and guarantee the roll-out of its LTE network to cover 180 cities with a total population of more than 70 million citizens by 2014.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin witnessed the signing of this landmark agreement by the heads of the leading Russian telecoms operators at Yota’s Moscow office.
The agreement will see the country’s major network operators – Beeline, Megafon, MTS and Rostelekom – working with Yota to offer 4G services over its network. The deal provides each of the participants with an option to buy shares in Yota in 2014 and sees the realization of Yota’s vision of the future of telecoms: the ability to offer open infrastructure to competing service providers.
State corporation Russian Technologies supported the agreement in a bid to ensure an efficient and collaborative approach to rolling-out 4G services.