According to an unconfirmed report by Telecompaper, Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor has distanced itself from a statement issued by one of its regional branches regarding the validity of MegaFon’s recent LTE launch. Earlier this week local media reports suggested that MegaFon’s commercial launch in Vladivostok, the administrative centre of the Primorsky Krai, had fallen foul of Roskomnadzor’s regional branch. The regulator’s offshoot suggested that the cellco had not fulfilled certain requirements relating to the network’s construction. However, Roskomnadzor has now intervened, clarifying that the earlier statement was ‘groundless’.
Earlier this year MegaFon inked a Long Term Evolution (LTE) MVNO agreement with Russian WiMAX-turned-LTE operator Scartel (Yota), going on to launch in a number of major markets, including Vladivostok. The relationship between the two parties took on a new dimension earlier this month, however, when MegaFon and Yota completed the previously announced merger of their telecoms assets. The deal, which was approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) on 15 June, will ultimately give MegaFon access to around 50% of Russia’s existing LTE frequencies in the 2.5GHz-2.7GHz spectrum band.