Russian WiMAX operator Enforta has announced the expansion of its wireless broadband services to an additional 13 cities in Russia thus increasing the company’s overall service area to 68 cities. In September the company will launch operations in the cities of Armavir, Artem, Birobidzhan, Vanino, Dzerzhinsk, Zlatoust, Miass, Novorossiysk, Novotroitsk, Sochi, Sterlitamak, Syzran, and Ulan-Ude.
The company says that it now operates the largest wireless broadband ‘footprint’ in Russia, servicing cities comprising 70% of Russia’s urban population.
Enforta is using Alvarion gear for its WiMAX solution in the fast growing Russian market. Alvarion’s BreezeMAX 3500 equipment, certified by the WiMAX Forum, will use the 3.400 - 3.600 GHz band. Alvarion’s local partner in Russia is Cedicom.
“The WiMAX technology continues to perform well and we are pleased with the subscriber growth”, said Lee Sparkman, Enforta’s President. “With this announcement we conclude our geographic deployments for 2008. We are now finalizing plans with our investors for an exciting 2009 that further leverages our ‘first to market’ leadership in wireless broadband services”. Enforta is adding 3 additional cities to its earlier announcement that it would launch 10 cities in the 4th quarter of 2008.
Enforta was formed in October 2003 with the objective to provide broadband services using WiMAX in Russia’s regional capitals. The Company is owned by Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Sumitomo Corporation, Bessemer Venture Partners, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In December of 2003 Enforta acquired ZAO Prestige-Internet and in 2005 they acquired OOO Evgenia. Later in 2005 the company launched its first wireless broadband services. Enforta has the largest market share amongst Russia’s wireless broadband operators at 20-22% of the total market.
Other WiMax networks are being launched in various regions in Russia by Synterra, Start-Telecom, Comstar-UTS, and Media-Net. Summa Telecom Company, announced the launch of its own network,having been granted a large frequency resource across Russia. The first cities to be launched in are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok. Summa Telecom is owned by Russian businessman Ziyavudinu Magomedov, whose principal businesses include oil transport logistics and metals.
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is the largest mobile operator in Russia and CIS with over 89.64 million subscribers. Vimpelcom, Russia’s 2nd largest cell operator, is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group and Norway’s Telenor which have been locked in a court battle over expansion overseas, something Russian shareholders contend was blocked by Telenor.
The Russian State Commission of Radio Frequencies (GKRCh) plans to transfer 2300 ~ 2400 MHz (2.3 GHz) from the military to public WiMAX.
.gif)
