Cellular communications (Belarusian market)

Development of 5G networks in Belarus

Main article: Development of 5G networks in Belarus

2024

The number of mobile subscribers in Belarus reached 11.9 million

In Belarus, the number of mobile users is increasing. According to the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic, as of January 1, 2025, 11.9 million subscribers were registered in the country, which is 118 thousand more than in 2024. There are 129.7 subscribers per 100 residents, which is 2.5% more than in 2024. This became known in February 2025.

The standard's mobile coverage LTE rate reached 99% of the country's population in 2024, an increase from 2023, when it was 98%. The Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the country also reported that the bandwidth of the external Internet channel increased by 590 Gbps, amounting to 4.22 Tbit/s by January 1, 2025. A year earlier (2024), this figure was at the level of 3.63 Tbit/s.

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Фото: Freepik

According to the ministry, in 2024, users continued to actively connect to passive optical network technology (GPON), which allows data transfer rates from 100 Mbps. The number of subscribers of this system for the year increased by 99.3 thousand, reaching 3 million 52.9 thousand. In 2023, this figure was 2 million 953.6 thousand.

The total number of subscribers to fixed broadband Internet access increased by 82.5 thousand, amounting to 3 million 291.7 thousand users. In 2023, there were 3 million 209.2 thousand of them.

The Ministry of Communications and Informatization of Belarus in February 2025 announced that the department continues to work on the development of telecommunications infrastructure aimed at improving the quality of communication and increasing the data transfer rate, which contributes to an increase in the number of users of mobile networks in the country.^[1]

Number of mobile and wired subscribers. Infographics

The Ministry of Communications and Informatization of Belarus on November 6, 2024 presented the results of the development of telecommunications for the third quarter of 2024, publishing an infographic with key indicators. The total number of mobile and wired subscribers continues to grow.

As reported in the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of Belarus, at the end of September 2024, the number of broadband Internet subscribers reached 12.58 million people. Of these, 9.32 million subscribers used wireless broadband and 3.26 million were connected to fixed broadband.

Also an important indicator was the number of IP television users, which at the end of the third quarter amounted to 2.46 million people. The width of the external Internet channel has reached 3,920 Gbps, which helps to improve the quality of services and increase the data transfer rate. These infrastructure improvements provide users with more stable and better access to the network.

In addition, the Ministry reported that 3.79 million subscribers were connected to the IMS platform, which allows combining all types of telecommunications services into one system. The move aims to modernize communications services and make it easier for citizens and businesses to access telecommunications services. GPON technology, which provides data transfer rates up to 100 Mbps, covers 3.02 million subscribers, which also contributes to improving the quality of wired Internet.

An important part of the report was the coverage of mobile coverage. According to the Ministry of Communications, the penetration rate of mobile communications in the Republic of Belarus at the end of the third quarter amounted to 130.6 subscribers per 100 residents, which reflects the active use of mobile devices among the population. The total number of mobile subscribers reached almost 12 million people. Coverage of the territory of the republic with 2G, 3G and 4G signals amounted to 99.3%, 98.6% and 93.1%, respectively, while population coverage with 2G and 3G services reached 99.9%, and for 4G this figure was 99.0%.^[2]

Signing final roaming cancellation documents with Russia

On November 5, 2024, the Council of Ministers of states the Union approved a resolution "On the creation of comfortable tariffs for the use of communication and data transfer services on the territory of the Union State," providing for the abolition roaming of March 1, 2025.

According to Izvestia, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, at a meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, stressed the need to provide telephone communications and Internet traffic at home rates for citizens of both countries.

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Фото: Freepik

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, represented by the director of the second department of the countries of SNGAlexei Polishchuk, said that mobile subscribers will have access to communication services at comfortable tariffs on the territory of the Union State from January 1, 2025.

The project is being implemented in stages. At first, the fee for incoming roaming calls on the territory of the Union State was canceled, which greatly simplified communication for citizens often traveling between the two countries.

The approval of the resolution is the result of the fulfillment of the instructions of the presidents of Russia and Belarus - Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. The President of Russia in May 2024 announced the imminent cancellation of roaming, and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko outlined the deadlines for the completion of the project by the end of 2024.

The new rules will provide comfortable tariffs for telephone conversations and Internet access for subscribers of Russian and Belarusian operators. This is especially important given the active movement of citizens between countries and the need to maintain constant communication.

The signed resolution is part of the integration program within the framework of the Union State, aimed at creating a single information and communication space. The document regulates the procedure for interaction between telecom operators of the two countries and establishes the principles of charging services for subscribers.^[3]

2022: Free incoming calls in Russia and Belarus

From April 1, 2022, Russia and Belarus canceled the fee for incoming calls. The decision was made on March 23, 2022, at a meeting of the High-Level Group of the Council of Ministers of the Union State. This is an important result of the road map for the implementation of the resolution of the Supreme State Council, signed on December 20, 2019. This was reported by Ministry of Digital Development on March 31, 2022. Read more here.

2017

LTE cellular communications reach 60% of the population

60% of users in all regional centers, large regional centers and Minsk are provided with LTE cellular communications in Belarus, according to the official website of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization in May 2017.

In the telecommunications industry of the republic, a software and hardware expansion of the IMS platform was carried out, as a result of which more than 148 thousand subscribers were connected, and their total number was 1.9 million. The total number of users of stationary broadband Internet access has grown by 20 thousand, they now number 3 million in the republic. The number of subscribers connected using GPON technology increased by 140 thousand, their total number is 1.2 million.

Data transfer services, thanks to the network modernization, are provided at speeds up to 100 Mb/s. The bandwidth of the international Internet access channel increased by 10 Gb/s and amounted to 1,110 Gb/s. The number of IPTV users increased by 35 thousand and amounts to 1.5 million. As of April 1, there were 11.4 million mobile telecommunications subscribers in the republic.

2016

The number of broadband fixed Internet access subscribers in the republic is about 3.06 million, IPTV subscribers are 1.51 million, and 1.81 million are connected to the IMS platform. 1.09 million households are connected using GPON technology. The width of the external channel for Internet access was 1100 Gbps. The average consumption of Internet traffic in the fourth generation standard is 6.6 GB per subscriber.

Quality of cellular communication in Belarus

In Belarus, a rating of mobile operators appeared in early 2017, compiled on the basis of the quality of the services they provide. In terms of key parameters, among the clear leaders was the life:) brand, which is considered lagging behind in terms of the size of the subscriber base.

A two-time gap was identified between the three leading Belarusian cellular operators in three key parameters of communication quality. Serious discrepancies were recorded in terms of the availability of the telephone network, the time of establishment of communication and the proportion of voice calls that ended in a break. It is noteworthy that the leading operators - MTS and velcom - demonstrated indicators that turned out to be significantly worse than that of the life:) operator, which is part of the Turkcell group of companies. The study was conducted by DMTel.

4G traffic in Belarus increased by 400% over the year

The average traffic consumption in the LTE network in Belarus for the year increased from 1.6 GB to 6.6 GB. The average daily data was 28 TB, and the penetration of devices with 4G support reached 15% in the republic.

These data were announced by the mobile operator MTS Belorus and beCloud as part of an event to expand the coverage area of ​ ​ the 4G network in Belarus. Starting from December 23, the fourth generation network will work in all regional centers of the republic and most district cities.

To cover 75% of the urban population, infrastructure operator beCloud needed to install more than 500 base stations.

2009: Number of mobile subscribers

The Ministry of Communications and Informatization of Belarus issued official data on the development of the mobile communications industry in the country in 2008. As of January 1, 2009, there were 8.1 million active subscribers in the country. Cellular communications now cover 93.5% of the country, which is home to 98.6% of the population. We are talking about subscribers who have made at least one call in the last two months.

The largest operator - MTS - declares that its subscriber base is 4.32 million people. The second largest operator, Velcom, has not yet provided data on the size of its subscriber base. The third Belarusian GSM operator BeST claims that on the last day of 2008 it had 231 thousand subscribers. The only CDMA operator announced 105.5 thousand users.