Russia

Geographic Region (ITU/UN)

ISO 3166 Code

RU

M49 Code

643

MCC

250

ITU Member

Yes

ITU-R Region

Overview

Russia (Росси́я), also officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast, located on the coast of the Baltic Sea also borders Lithuania and Poland.

Russia's major islands and archipelagos include Novaya Zemlya, the Franz Josef Land, the Severnaya Zemlya, the New Siberian Islands, Wrangel Island, the Kuril Islands, Ratmanov Island, Kunashir Island and Sakhalin.

Regulatory Environment

Russia is a member of the ITU and as such follows radio frequency harmonisation principles according to ITU-R Region-1. The regulatory body governing communications policy is the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation (Minsvyaz), and the General Radio Frequency Centre (Roskomnadzor) and State Commission for Radio Frequencies (SCRF) are charged with regulating the country's radio frequency spectrum activities such as planning, allocations, and licencing.

Telecommunications Market

Russia's telecommunications market is highly developed with strong competition fostering an environment of low cost services with good service availability despite the large geographical area. The four major telecommunication operators share 99% of mobile subscribers, with 4G LTE accessible by 59% of the population (according to latest ITU data, June 2017).

Russian 5G

Russian mobile network operators have performed extensive 5G testing. All four national operators have both publicly announced 5G plans and completed network trials, with Beeline, Megafon and Rostelecom (Tele2) awarded spectrum. SCRF is reportedly considering the following bands for 5G:

  • 3400 to 3800 MHz
  • 4400 to 4500 MHz (with limitations)
  • 4800 to 4990 MHz
  • 24.25 to 27.50 GHz
  • 40.5 to 42.5 GHz
  • 66 to 71 GHz

In December 2018 SRCF announced the release of 5G test spectrum to all four national operators including frequencies from 4800 to 4990 MHz and 27.1 to 27.5 GHz. Russia plans for 5G service availability by 2020, with a goal of covering 80 percent of the country’s population by 2025.

National Mobile Network Operators

There are 1 mobile network operators servicing this region.

3G: Active
3G Bands: B1 (2100 MHz)
4G: Active
5G: Limited / Partial Use
5G Bands: n258 (26 GHz)
IoT: Trialling
IoT Technology: NB-IoT (LTE Cat-NB1)

Wireless Network Operators

There are 2 subnational network operators servicing this region.