Russia's major cities plan to actively deploy 5G networks in 2026 and prepare for them in 2025.

CTOnews.com, December 20, according to the TASS news agency, Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev said when introducing domestic 5G base stations at Russian exhibitions and forums: "Russian major cities will actively deploy 5G networks on domestic base stations in 2026."

Mr Shadayev added that Russia was preparing to start preparations for network services in 2025 and planned to connect Russian base stations to friendly countries. For the 6G network, Sadayev said the issue is currently under study and research and development work will begin next year.

Tu Yuan Pixabay last month, the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media also announced plans to decide on 5G networks to develop a "digital dividend" frequency allocation model by March 2024. According to reports, before Russia, there are two options: hold an auction or assign it to a state-owned company, which is responsible for sharing the frequency with mobile operators.

Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishuskin said the government would allocate about 3.5 billion rubles (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 276 million yuan) for base station production to facilitate the transition of operators to 5G networks.

In January this year, Russian telecom operators signed long-term contracts worth more than 100 billion rubles (currently about 7.88 billion yuan) with Russian base station manufacturers. Russia also said that operators will only be able to buy domestic base stations from 2028, and predicts that the total supply of base stations will reach 75000 by 2030.