Silknet in partnership with Ericsson implements new, 4.9G technology in Geocell network
By Levan Abramishvili
Tuesday, June 11
In the following days, in the central part of Tbilisi, the company will commercially launch the Gigabit LTE highest speed mobile internet network (4.9G), the first company to do so in Georgia. With this technology, subscribers will get 7 times faster mobile internet at the speed of up to 1000Mb/sec.
The two companies also reached an agreement on large-scale works that will cover the whole country. These works cover the implementation of hundreds of micro stations and installment of new base stations. As a result of these works, Geocell subscribers will enjoy the best quality 4.5G mobile internet service all over Georgia.
“According to the agreement with Ericsson, the works will be completed in Autumn of this year. By this I can say, that we’ll practically end the long and important merger process with Geocell by delivering the best quality mobile internet to customers in all Georgia,” said the CEO of Silknet, David Mamulaishvili.
The presentation of the new technology was held at Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel, Tbilisi. The representatives of Ericsson and Silknet spoke about the 4.9G network. A member of the Ericsson team demonstrated a speed test, which showed that a 2 GB HD video was downloaded within 20 second’s time.
The Messenger spoke with Yaroslav Nitsak, General Manager of Ericsson in Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia.
“We are very happy today that we have successfully launched a totally new technology not only for Georgia but for the whole region. 1GB LTE enables [the user] to receive top speeds of 1GB per second, which gives a totally new customer experience to subscribers in Georgia,” said Nitsak.
He also highlighted that Silknet is a 33rd company across the globe, where the 4.9G network was launched.
“In 20 seconds, you can download a 2GB file, that's really incredible for the Georgian market. Georgia is a 33rd network, where this huge capacity was deployed. We can state that Silknet is now one of the 33 of the most powerful, most capable mobile LTE networks globally. We are really proud of that success, which is a result of our joint efforts,” added Nitsak.
According to Nitsak, the Georgian customers can expect the arrival of the next generation 5G network in the next year or two.
Silknet acquired Geocell, the second-largest mobile telecommunications operator in Georgia, in January 2018. The acquisition, which valued Geocell at USD 153 million, combined Silknet’s broadband, pay TV and fixed telephony operations with Geocell’s mobile operations, creating a major convergent telecom company. Silknet is part of the Silk Road Group, one of the Caucasus’s leading investment groups.
Ericsson is one of the leading providers of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to service providers, with about 40% of the world’s mobile traffic carried through its networks. Ericsson’s investments in innovation have delivered the benefits of telephony and mobile broadband to billions of people around the world.
Silknet is the first company in Georgia, as well as in the region, having implemented this latest technology - 4.9G (Gigabit LTE) in order to offer its customers the fastest mobile internet services.