Cellco Tele2 Russia – part-owned by Rostelecom – this week expanded 800MHz LTE coverage to the regions of Tomsk, Kaliningrad and Kostroma, adding to an existing 13-region LTE-800 footprint (Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Krasnodar, Perm Krai, Novosibirsk, Mordovia, Udmurtia, Rostov, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk and Ulyanovsk). The 800MHz band augments Tele2’s LTE-1800 coverage (and LTE-2600 or LTE-450 in some regions), and has been utilised to provide wider reach in rural areas as well as better indoor penetration in cities, TelecomDaily notes. Overall, Tele2 currently operates LTE network services in 47 regions, having expanded to 22 additional regions so far this year, with an end-year target of 50 regions.