Belarusian mobile infrastructure operator Belarusian Cloud Technologies (beCloud), which owns a 15-year licence to operate 4G LTE infrastructure in the 1710MHz-1730MHz/1805MHz-1825MHz and 2530MHz-2565MHz/2650MHz-2685MHz bands, says that around 4,500 users in Minsk are now using the new network, up from less than 3,000 at the start of the year. beCloud is the company tasked with deploying a common LTE network for use by all three domestic mobile network operators. To date, only MTS Belarus has dipped its toes in the commercial market, kicking off its service in December last year offering peak rate 112Mbps data speeds via two packages: LTE 25 with 25GB of downloads for BYR234,000 (USD12.80) and 50GB (LTE 50) at BYR320,000.
beCloud says its 4G network has been boosted to a total of 150 base stations in high traffic areas of the capital, adding that by end-2016 it hopes to have extended coverage to the regional cities of Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev. By the end of 2018, the infrastructure operator’s 4G network will cover all regional centres and other towns with a population of 50,000.