The Russian antitrust authority has recommended that telephone operators stop promoting 5G in their advertising campaigns. The reason is simple: the fifth-generation network is not yet available in the country. The measure aims to prevent consumers from being deceived with promises of a technology they cannot use, thus protecting their right to clear and truthful information about the services they contract.
The real deployment of 5G in Russia and its technical limitations 📡
The development of 5G in Russia faces technical and regulatory obstacles. The ideal frequency for this technology, the 3.4-3.8 GHz band, is occupied by military and government uses, delaying its allocation for commercial networks. Without free and licensed spectrum, operators cannot build the necessary infrastructure. For now, 4G remains the real standard, and any 5G advertisement is a technical fiction that the authority has decided to nip in the bud.
Russian 5G: as real as refrigerators with WiFi ❄️
It turns out that in Russia, 5G is like the Yeti: everyone talks about it, but no one has seen it. Operators, with more enthusiasm than coverage, sold the promise of a future network as if it were a current service. Now the antitrust authority has reminded them that selling smoke is not business, but false advertising. At least, users now know they don't need to change their phones for anything: their 4G will remain the only real option for a good while.