Belarusian Telecommunications Network (BeST, life:)), the mobile operator 80%-owned by Turkish telecoms company Turkcell, has launched 4G services in eleven new areas, namely: Vitebsk, Grodno, Polotsk, Novopolotsk, Lida, Dzerzhinsk, Stolbtsy, Staiki village, Borovlyany village, Machulishchi village and Obchak village. In addition, the cellco says it has extended 4G availability for customers in Minsk and Minsk region, and in Molodechno.
life:) launched its commercial LTE network in the capital Minsk in August last year, joining mobile market leader MTS Belarus, which kicked off its commercial offering in December 2015, offering a one-month free trial of the new data service to encourage take-up. At the beginning of this month, the operator’s 4G network had been extended to more than 25 areas, of which three are large regional centres, including the capital. Going forward, the cellco intends to continue the development of its service to new areas it said, although it declined to provide a rollout schedule.
TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that LTE infrastructure provider Belarusian Cloud Technologies (beCloud) is responsible for rolling out a common 4G network that can be used by life:) and its two competitors, MTS Belarus and velcom.