Just weeks after Russia's mobile network operators launched 5G in the country, two of the country's mobile carriers, T2 and MegaFon, have expanded the service to key metro stations.

Russian mobile operators Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Vimpelcom, MegaFon, and T2 all commercially launched 5G services on September 11, as part of the first phase.

The first phase of the 5G launch saw commercial services launched across 16 cities in Russia, including the country's capital, Moscow, plus St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

While all four carriers have launched 5G services in those cities, services have also been launched in Novosibirsk and Kazan by MegaFon and MTS, in Samara by Vimpelcom and MegaFon; in Veliky Novgorod, Krasnodar, Nizhny Novgorod and Tver by MegaFon; in Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Chelyabinsk by T2; in Ufa by MTS and in Yaroslavl by Vimpelcom.

However, since launching commercial 5G services earlier this month, Rostelecom-owned T2 and MegaFon have extended 5G coverage to key railway stations.

MegaFon has switched on 5G services at Kievsky and Leningradsky railway stations in Moscow, plus the Moskovsky railway station in St. Petersburg this week, local media has reported.

Meanwhile, T2 has also expanded its 5G network to key metro stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Forbes Russia reports that its 5G network covers 172 stations in Moscow plus an additional 24 in St. Petersburg.

The initial 5G launch has allocated frequencies that were previously allocated to providers for LTE networks. Russia's Ministry of Digital Development noted at launch that 5G is not yet compatible with Apple devices, and "depends on the decisions of the Apple corporation." Android users are able to connect to 5G with 5G-compatible handsets.

Playing catch-up

Russia's commercial 5G launch has come later than most markets, particularly when compared to Europe.

This has been due to several factors, including the fallout from its war with Ukraine, which led to sanctions against the country.

It's not clear which network vendors have supported the 5G launch, given that high-profile vendors Ericsson and Nokia exited the Russian market in the wake of the war with Ukraine and only launched pilots in Ukraine this year.

Chinese vendor Huawei hasn't exited the Russian market, but has set out plans to separate its Russian and Belarusian business units from the rest of the countries in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) bloc; moved thousands of employees out of the country and closed down its local Enterprise Business Group.

The launch has likely been supported by home-grown network equipment vendors, with Russia's telcos previously entering into forward contracts with domestic manufacturers for the supply of base stations.

A previous report by the Russian news agency TASS stated that the country was aiming to pilot 5G-ready equipment by 2030, and 6G-ready standards by 2035.