Azercell, Azerbaijan’s largest mobile network operator (MNO) by subscriptions, has announced that it is planning to deploy its 5G network ‘soon’. In a press release, the company revealed it has successfully conducted internal tests in preparation for the rollout and intends to apply to the authorities for a 5G operating licence once further technical preparations have been completed.

The cellco previously collaborated with Ericsson in December 2019 to deploy a pre-commercial 5G pilot zone in central Baku, having achieved data transfer rates of 1.1Gbps during testing. Building on their partnership, the two companies signed a three-year 5G memorandum of understanding (MoU) that same month to explore wider applications and solutions enabled by the technology.