The company’s CEO, Mikhail Slobodin, told a local news agency that VimpelCom will offer coverage to approximately 80% of the city, with the launch intended to satisfy obligations set by the company’s LTE licence award.
Slobodin claimed an extension of the roll-out will depend on how the service is adopted by the market, with higher uptake likely to result in a larger build-out locally.
VimpelCom, operating under the Beeline brand, will also launch 4G networks in the lucrative markets of Moscow and St Petersburg, in December 2013 and March 2014 respectively.
It also intends to build 12,000 base stations by the end of 2014 – working in partnership with ZTE – with the overall aim of covering 55% of Russia’s population by the end of 2015.
