A1 BY Mobile operator

The unitary enterprise for rendering services Welkom works at the telecommunication market of Republic of Belarus since April, 1999, renders communication services under the Velcom and "PRIVET" trademarks on the basis of GSM technologies (GPRS, EDGE), UMTS (HSDPA, HSUPA), Dual-Carrier HSDPA, including based on own fiber optic network; is one of the largest in the country the seller of the subscriber equipment. Own retail network of the operator (?) makes 82 corporate centers of sales and service in 33 localities of Belarus. Services of the international roaming are available to subscribers of velcom in 187 countries and territories in 522 networks of partner operators of the company.

Since November, 2007 velcom is a part of Telekom Austria Group holding, one of the leading telecommunication providers in Central and Eastern Europe.

History and performance indicators

2020

Commission of a call of a 5G

On May 25, 2020 it became known that in Belarus it is made by a 5G call.

The call became possible thanks to implementation and testing of VoNR technology (VoiceoverNew Radio) serving for packet forwarding of a voice of high definition in a 5G.

VoNR, or Vo5G is a technology thanks to which there is possible an implementation of voice calls and video calls in Standalone-5G networks (i.e. having autonomous architecture and not being a superstructure to already existing networks of the previous generation). The new technology allows to provide instant connection with the interlocutor and seamless transition of the subscriber from 5G network in 4G network during the conversation. Besides, thanks to VoNR the high-speed mobile Internet of a 5G can use even during a call.

It is necessary for use of VoNR technology that the mobile device of the subscriber supported mode 5G SA and was officially held for use in the territory of Belarus.

In particular, the first test call by VoNR technology was made from the smartphone on the MediaTekDimensity 1000 platform. The call passed in full-fledged 5G network in Belarus started by the company in the test mode at October Square (in particular, at head office of A1 company and in the adjacent territory near the Palace of the Republic). In parallel testing of technology 5G SA takes place in the industrial park "Great Stone".

A1 unrolled the Belarus's first autonomous 5G network

On May 22, 2020 it became known that A1 company in the test mode brought SA (Standalone) 5G network into operation. It is the Belarus's first full-fledged 5G network constructed on the basis of autonomous architecture.

The test 5G network of A1 is created based on autonomous architecture – SA. Unlike networks with nonautonomous architecture (NSA, Non-Standalone), a "net" 5G networks is unrolled without binding to infrastructure of networks 4G/LTE. Such approach demands from the operator of more considerable time and finance costs at the initial stage, however allows to provide subscribers of a full-fledged 5G communication with support of all key advantages of this standard at once – in particular, very high speed data transmission with the minimum delay.

The 5G network of A1 company initially is under construction on independent architecture. Such solution is an ultimate goal of any operator who aims to provide to the subscribers all advantages of communication of the advanced standard. The way of A1 to deployment of communication of fifth generation began in 2016 with start of the first-ever completely virtual kernel of a mobile network. Afterwards we the first in Belarus implemented such innovative solutions as NB-IoT, eSIM, VoLTE, VoWi-Fi. All this allowed to lay the strong foundation for future development of a 5G, – the deputy CEO of A1 company for technical issues Christian Lach noted

At start of the test network of standard 5G A1 company relies on rich experience of maternal A1 of Telekom Austria Group. In particular, the Austrian division of holding provides a 5G communication in more than 120 localities already today.

October Square (in particular, communication of fifth generation appeared at head office of A1 company and in the adjacent territory near the Palace of the Republic) and also the industrial park "Great Stone" became the first locations where the 5G network of A1 is available in the test mode. Afterwards the quantity of test zones will increase: they will appear in the territory of the multifunction cultural and sports Minsk Arena complex and also as the mobile base station near capital Sports palace.

For start of communication of standard 5G SA from A1 the range of 3.5 GHz is used. Test start of a 5G network of A1 allowed to show more than 10-fold increase in capacity of network and data transfer rate in comparison with the operating 3G/4G-networks of the operator. So, during the first test the speed of network was as much as possible "dispersed" to 1.1 Gbit / by c. In the mode of standard testing in the presence of several terminals (the accepting devices) data loading speed on the device (downlink) averages 300 Mbps, the speed of unloading given in the Internet (uplink) – 150 Mbit / c. At the same time the speed of a response of network (ping) varies within only 10-15 milliseconds.

The project on deployment of a test 5G network of A1 company was performed in partnership with ZTE company.

We are glad that A1, our long-term partner, became the Belarus's first operator who started SA 5G network. The autonomous architecture of a 5G allows not only to improve network transmission capacity, but also with ease to adapt it for different innovation services. In the nearest future based on the industrial park "Great Stone" ours will also begin work with A1 joint laboratory 5G where network equipment and applications for vertically integrated markets will be tested, – the director of IOOO "ZTE" Wei Wei noted

Main advantages of communication of fifth generation are high data transfer rate – to several gigabits per second, the minimum delay at signal transmission – to one millisecond against tens of milliseconds in 4G networks and also an opportunity at the same time to provide access to network to the bigger number of devices. All this does the new standard by optimal base for development of Internet of Things (IoT), implementation of the concept of the "smart" cities and implementation of perspective B2B-solutions.

2019: Rebranding

A1 logo till summer of 2019

The Belarusian telecom operator and content services of velcom completed on August 12, 2019 a final stage of rebranding and switched in operating activities of A1 brand. The combination of the first letter of the alphabet and the first digit in a number row in name A1 means "first-class", "excellent". New corporate colors of the company – white as the basic and also red and black as accent, says the operator.

According to the CEO of velcom|A1 Duz Hellmuth, with change of a logo with velcom on A1 the company opens a new chapter "in the history of the company as provider of services in the field of telecommunications, information and communication technologies and entertaining content".

For clients of A1 change of a brand will not cause need of the conclusion of new agreements or replacement of the subscriber equipment (SIM cards, routers, set-top boxes, etc.). Conditions of the agreements signed earlier remain. At the same time on screens of smartphones and other devices the name of velcom network will be replaced with A1 BY. Use by the company in communication of the velcom and velcom|A1 brands will be stopped since August 12.

2017: ZTE and velcom started NB-IoT network in Minsk

ZTE Corporation and velcom telecom operator started in the fall of 2017 in Minsk the country's first narrowband network of NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things) for Internet of Things. Start of NB-IoT network will allow to develop Internet of Things in all city, and not just in pilot zones. Base stations provide a steady covering in each area already now: narrow-band communication gets into the most hard-to-reach spots, through massive walls of buildings and on first floors. On the level of penetration of a signal the new standard can exceed the M2M technologies used now by 20 times.

Earlier velcom got permission from State Radio Frequency Commission (SCRF) for using a part of earlier selected frequency range for Internet of Things. The NB-IoT network works in the range of 900 MHz which is also involved in GSM and UMTS. For Internet of Things the small frequency band in 200 kHz with set-up intervals is used that does not influence work of other networks in any way.

2016

The mobile operator velcom creates superfast fiber optic network which will be able "to miss" up to one thousand terabits per second in Minsk. At its construction the cable consisting of 256 fibers is used.

Extent of network reaches 40 km now and integrates head office velcom on Internatsionalnaya Street with the control center (Network and Service Operation Center) on Zakharov Street and a data processing center under construction in Kolodishchakh. Also will connect users of future data center to superfast network, and if necessary can directly carry out a cable to office of the customer.

The cable is created in Belarus by the special order and consists of 11 modules, in each of which on 24 fibers. The exception is made by the last cartridge in which 16 "threads". Fibers are colored in colors of the rainbow that it was simpler to look for pairs. One color is replaced by another in a strict priority which needs to be observed when welding. "Stitching" of two ends of a cable requires jewelry accuracy and takes about a day. The special crew is engaged in it: stretches a cable in the warmed van, removes isolation, extends fibers, welds, checks for accuracy and covers with a protective cover. "Automatic equipment" helps with many processes, told in velcom.

According to the operator, the cable has record characteristics — in a second can miss about one thousand terabits of information. Theoretically about 2.5 billion people can communicate with its help at the same time.

Sverkhbystry a cable is connected to special connections — so-called crosses of new generation which allowed to reduce quantity of wires by one and a half times and to simplify management of them. "We saved time and resources, though spent many forces for installation of crosses — it was necessary to consult often with foreign vendors how to set, weld, connect, etc." — noted in velcom.

The data processing center for the sake of which the superfast network is under construction will earn in 2017. At the moment builders built the building, and engineers carried out network of power supply. In the coming months an object will be filled with infrastructure — from powerful conditioners to surveillance cameras at each server cabinet.

According to velcom, the new data processing center will become the largest in the country — its project already received the certificate of conformity of category Tier 3. In it will guarantee complete safety of data during the natural cataclysms or a long absence of the centralized power supply. Besides, the data center will be distinguished by the increased security, noise immunity, complete climate control and the accessibility to information at any time.

The operator builds the protected network for requirements of data center, "having looped back" it for the increased reliability. "If some client wants to use not service, and physical fiber, then will be able to be connected to a backbone network directly. We can also carry out optical link to the subscriber, and that capacity which is necessary for it. Limits almost do not exist" — consider in velcom.

2009

By data for the fourth quarter 2009 the subscriber base of velcom made 4.1 million subscribers. Penetration at the end of year increased to 94.4%. The velcom network is available for 94.0% of the territory of the country in which 98.4% of the population live. 3,240 base stations are provided employment. The number of partners in the international roaming is 383 networks of operators in 161 countries of the world today. The number of the corporate centers of sales and service contains 61 in 31 Belarusian localities.

2007

Since 2007 the operator was purchased by the Austrian telecom holding A1 Telekom Austria Group.

1999

velcom|A1 appeared in 1999 under the name of JV Mobilnaya tsifrovaya svyaz LLC and became the first mobile operator of the GSM standard in Belarus.