The licence is for 5G operations in the 24.25–24.65GHz mmWave band.
The company now plans bring new solutions to market that leverage high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity for enterprise and industrial applications.
The licence was granted by the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor).
It covers 83 Russian regions and expires on 16 July, 2025.
Making history
Alexey Kornya, MTS President & CEO, commented, “Obtaining Russia’s first 5G licence is a historic moment for our industry, bringing us one step closer to a new era in the history of communications, digitalization, and information technology.
“For MTS, 5G will be a key enabler in developing our digital ecosystem — in particular by unlocking new automation opportunities for B2B customers. Fifth-generation connectivity will enable corporate customers to leverage new advances in AI, IoT, and AR/VR, as well as interactive education, autonomous transportation, and industrial process automation.”
He acknowledged, “While we still have a long way to go before mass adoption, it’s already clear that in the next few years 5G is set to impact every industry and become a key growth driver for the economy as a whole.”
Varied verticals
MTS plans to launch 5G-based solutions for corporate customers, with development and testing of a variety of business uses cases already underway, including:
• Manufacturing — machine vision, predictive analytics, and digital twins for remote equipment monitoring and control.
• Agriculture, pulp and paper, and oil and gas — drone-based infrastructure inspection and monitoring.
• Healthcare — remote surgery and patient monitoring.
• Retail — digitized smart stores and biometric payment systems.
• Logistics — automated warehouse operations and autonomous vehicles.