Russian company Irteya, a subsidiary of the operator MTS, plans to start production of 4G LTE and 5G base stations this year. As reported by TelecomTalk, at the end of 2023, Irteya announced the launch of production of its own 4G LTE and 5G base stations. The company had earlier planned to produce the equipment at a plant of the Tomsk-based company Mikran, but those plans were revised, and Irteya will now produce base stations at its own premises, with preparations already underway, according to a Vedomosti report.
Also Read: MTS Subsidiary Irteya to Develop 4G, 5G Base Stations: Report
Joint Production Plans
The production plans will be implemented jointly with partners, MTS said according to the report. In January 2024, the Advanced Technologies investment fund became a co-owner of Irteya, and the production of base stations will reportedly begin in the 2nd or 3rd quarter.
Irteya plans to produce 10,000-20,000 base stations annually from 2025, with planned investments for production from partners exceeding 4 billion rubles by 2027.
"This year we have already built several hundred base stations; we will reach 10,000-20,000 starting next year. We will produce 10,000-20,000 per year," MTS said at the Telecom 2024 forum organised by Vedomosti.
OpenRAN Architecture Adoption
As reported earlier, Irteya will create 4G/5G mobile base stations with OpenRAN open architecture. According to the roadmap, the launch of serial production of base stations is scheduled for September 2024, while at the same time, by June 2026, it is planned to establish serial production up to 20,000 base stations per year.
Also Read: MTS and Matrix Wave Successfully Test Domestic mmWave Repeater for 5G Networks
Russian Telecom's Transformation
At the end of December 2022, the Russian operators, namely Tele2 Russia, Beeline, Megafon, MTS, have concluded contracts with domestic manufacturers for base stations. In line with the plan, Russian telecom equipment will be put into commercial operation in 2025, and from 2028 only Russian base stations will be used.
Approximately half of the network equipment utilised by telecom operators in Russia now comprises domestic technology. The remaining 50 percent primarily consists of 3G base stations, which will be phased out gradually, the report said, citing operator Megafon.
