Roskomnadzor announces July tender for LTE frequencies in 791MHz-862MHz band

Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor has announced details of a tender for Long Term Evolution (LTE)-suitable frequencies in the 791MHz-862MHz spectrum band. The process, which is scheduled to commence on 12 July 2012, will offer four 2×7.5MHz blocks of spectrum covering the entire Russian territory. Paired blocks will be limited to one operator apiece, and the tender will award extra ‘points’ to bidders which agree to open their networks up to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). Successful operators are obliged to complete their network rollouts within a seven year time-frame, offering services in all towns with at least 50,000 residents. Although Roskomnadzor indicates that it has already studied all of the formal proposals submitted by the country’s main players, it has warned that ‘the positions of the operators were often diametrically opposed’, suggesting that not everyone will be satisfied with the final document.