On March 5, Russian operator MTS announced that it had opened Russia’s first 5G pilot network for consumers in Moscow.

According to the news, users can use 5G wireless network for free in 14 locations in Moscow, including Lubyanka Square, Sparrow Hills, and the square near Moscow University. The network speed can reach up to 1.5Gbps.

In July last year, Roskomnadzor, the Russian communications and media regulator, issued a 5G license to the operator MTS. After obtaining a 5G license, MTS will use the 24.25-24.65 GHz frequency band allocated by the Russian Radio Frequency Spectrum Committee at the beginning of last year to deploy and commercial 5G networks. Russia’s 3.4-3.8GHz mid-frequency band currently belongs to the Ministry of Defense and has not been released for use by operators.

However, the 5G pilot network opened this time uses the 4.9GHz frequency band. Earlier, Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Shadayev stated that the 4.7-4.9GHz frequency band will be fully opened for the development of civilian 5G networks. Russian media also stated that the pilot network uses Huawei equipment.