VEON this week announced that its joint venture company in Kazakhstan, KaR-Tel, operating under the Beeline brand, has launched a large-scale 5G network trial in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
The end-to-end trial is integrated into Beeline's live mobile network, making it one of the largest 5G trials to date in Central Asia. The network architecture is aligned with the latest 5G release (NSA 3X) and allows 5G devices to aggregate LTE and 5G radio channels to achieve higher download speeds. Initial speed tests, using the 3.7 GHz band, show a downlink speed of 1.0GB per second.
The trial's 5G coverage spreads over thirteen square kilometres, allowing a number of fixed wireless and mobile use cases to be tested in real-life conditions, including robotics for industry applications and virtual reality experiences such as gaming and 360-degree TV streaming. The trial is being led by KaR-Tel LLC in partnership with Nokia.
Yogesh Malik, CTO, VEON
Our 5G trial in Kazakhstan is a further sign that VEON is embracing a 5G future that provides customers with cutting-edge technology to empower their personal or business ambitions.
Mikko Lavanti, Head of Central East & Central Asia, Nokia
Nokia is enabling this trial with our end-to-end 5G technology, as well as sharing our experience of more than 100 technical 5G engagements around the world.
