One week after launching 5G across Uzbekistan, state-owned telco Uzbektelecom JSC, which operates as Uztelecom, made good on its promise to launch 5G-Advanced (a.k.a. 5.5G) this week, albeit only for testing.
At the start of the ICTWeek exhibition in Tashkent on Monday, Uztelecom launched a 5G-A test network and staged a demo of the technology in cooperation with Huawei Technologies. Uztelecom said it will test and develop 5G-A for eventual rollout in Uzbekistan, although no timeline was given.
Temur Mansurov, deputy director for the UzMobile branch of Uzbektelecom JSC, touted 5G-A as a precursor to 6G that “opens up limitless opportunities” by boosting capacity and downlink speeds for mobile connectivity.
“5G is enough for a person to live comfortably, but this capacity is not always enough for technological businesses. 5.5G gives visionaries and innovators the opportunity to change the world – to innovate, to create smart cities, to develop projects in the field of the Internet of Things,” Mansurov said in a statement. “This is not just an increase in internet speed – it is a new level of efficiency.”
Uztelecom – which first started trialing 5G in Tashkent in April 2023 – launched its non-standalone (NSA) 5G network in all regional centres of Uzbekistan last week as part of an overall project to modernize its mobile network. Uztelecom said it has modernized and commissioned over 3,500 base stations to date since the project kicked off in March 2022.
