Tajik mobile operator Tcell, owned by Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), has announced that it is the first cellco in the country to receive a commercial 5G licence, also claiming that it will ‘launch the first 5G network in Central Asia’. A company press release lacked details such as 5G spectrum band(s) allocated or launch timeframe, however. The release highlighted how ‘the introduction of 5G technology will allow Tcell to create a new technological basis for Tajik society’, supporting ‘government e-services, smart cities and innovative entrepreneurs’, adding that ‘for the full implementation and development of … 5G services, Tcell has to do a lot of work and make considerable investments to prepare the existing platform. Tcell has already started this investment.’
The release went on to say: ‘For 5G, it is necessary to identify new frequencies that will provide a higher speed and a denser coverage. Also, an infrastructure update is needed: 5G will work in parallel with 4G and 3G, and smartphones will switch between networks. This is a very large amount of work and a bold move, but 5G is not far off, and Tcell expects very soon to please subscribers, all Tajik people and guests of the country with the amazing possibilities of this technological breakthrough.’