Kazakhstan to conduct 5G pilot tests in 2019, says Information Minister
"This year, the Ministry plans to participate in the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) Telecom World 2018 event to be held in Durban, the Republic of South Africa, and in the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 in Dubai, UAE. These events represent an influential platform that accelerates innovations in the field of information communication technology, including the development of a new 5G technology for the socio-economic development all over the world," the minister told a session of the Government on Tuesday.
Dauren Abayev stressed that it is only after the International Telecommunication Union adopts the 5G standard when the telecommunications equipment manufacturers will begin mass production of appropriate devices operating within the standard adopted.
"In turn, the Ministry plans to conduct pilot testing of the 5G mobile communication technology in the second quarter of 2019. For the pilot testing of the 5G mobile communication technology, the ministry has done work on the frequency band selection in Astana and Almaty cities and in Akmola and Almaty regions and the respective approval by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan," Abayev added.
Alongside this, according to him, the resources of the frequency bands agreed upon with the Ministry of Defense are sufficient for testing the 5G technology for only one of the operators. That is, the ministry will soon have to decide on the telecom operator for pilot testing of the 5G mobile communication technology.
Prime Minister of the country Bakytzhan Sagintayev, in turn, recalled the need for broadband Internet.
"Providing broadband Internet access is not just our requirement. It is the contemporary imperative on the agenda of many states. We should not lag behind. We have adopted the required documents, made all the decisions," the Prime Minister stressed.