Mobile operator Beeline Kazakhstan announced on its website the launch of a large-scale network upgrade, including expansion of its 4G LTE footprint to a further 107 settlements representing a total population of around one million, plus expansion of network capacity in the country’s largest city Almaty and another major city Shymkent by three-to-four times.
LTE coverage currently stands at around 65% of the national population. Furthermore, Oleg Snimshchikov, technical director of Beeline Kazakhstan, revealed: ‘in the autumn of this year we will present 5G in Shymkent. It will be a pilot, on the basis of which we will calculate further investments in technology and its implementation strategy,’ adding that several 5G base stations will operate in the centre of the city, with assessments of the pilot’s performance to begin by the end of September. The official also noted plans to launch Massive MIMO technology in 2020.