The story
The company began commercial operations to provide mobile communications services and sell mobile communications devices on 16 April 1999 under the brand name JV LLC Mobile digital communication, and became the first GSM carrier in Belarus (the country's first cellular operator was the NMT carrier BelCel).
Ten base stations (nine in Minsk and one in Arešniki on the way to the National Airport Minsk) had been launched by the time commercial operations started. By the summer of 2000, all regional cities of Belarus had been connected to the network. Mobile communications services were available on the Minsk-Brest-Orša highway and in settlements along the road. Since 23 April 2007, mobile communications have been available to 100% of Belarus's urban population. In April 2019, the operator launched the first GSM network in the Polesye State Radiation-Ecological Reserve.
On 15 March 2001, the operator subscribers were enabled to send and receive texts (SMS), and in 2005, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) became available.
On 2 June 2003, the carrier launched the GPRS service. In December 2005, EDGE technology became available in three regions of Belarus.
On 30 March 2006, the company became the country's first carrier to start testing the third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology. The 3G network was rolled out in only 27 days. The commercial operation of the 3G network in Minsk and Homieĺ started on 17 March 2010. In February 2016, the company became the country's first carrier to launch a 3G network in the 900 MHz band, and in May 2019, it further improved the capacity of its 3G network being the first operator to add a fourth RF carrier in the 2100 MHz band to its base stations.
In November 2007, the company became part of A1 Group as a result of the acquisition of 70% (in November 2007) and then the remaining 30% (in October 2010) of shares. Starting in June 2019, A1 subscribers will be able to use the Internet at domestic prices in the networks of the A1 Group operators.
In May 2008, the company had a rebranding campaign, changing its logo and name to Unitary enterprise velcom.
In May 2009, the carrier signed an exclusive agreement with LLC JV BelCel on the provision of CDMA2000 broadband Internet access services (EV-DO Rev.A). The services were provided up until 16 May 2013.
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In 2014, VOKA digital television was launched, construction of the company's proprietary data center began and the official online store was unveiled. In May, 2020 the company expanded online trade chains and opened the first online shop.
In 2017, the company was licensed to commercially launch Belarus's first Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network.
Since April 2018, velcom subscribers have benefited from making Wi-Fi calls using the VoWiFi (Voiceover Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Calling) technology. In December 2019, А1 was the first in the country to implement the VoLTE (Voice over LTE) technology.
In the summer of 2018, velcom in partnership with JSC Reshenie Bank and Visa international payment system launched the virtual V-BANKING (rebranded A1 Banking in August 2019) card to pay for a broad range of services. In November 2020 А1 and Visa entered into a Strategic Partnership Agreement in order to develop digital financial services in the country, and to extend financial facilities of А1 banking application.
On 21 March 2019, A1 started to provide data services using 4G technology. By the end of 2019, 4G network has become available to A1 subscribers in all major cities in the 1800 MHz band. In December 2019, the company announced about three-year strategic partnership with infrastructure operator beCloud aiming to develop 4G mobile communications standard in Belarus. Starting from 2020, A1 will provide its infrastructure for base stations, as well as transport network based on hybrid communications lines, radio relays and fibre optic lines to make 4G network in the 800 MHz band available in rural areas. From August 2020 to March 2022, due to a new radio-frequency band, 4G network coverage expanded up: in Gomel Region to 96.4% in Mogilev Region to 81%, in Minsk Region to 89%, in Vitebsk Region to 75%, in Brest region to 67%, in Grodno region. In November 2022, A1 began using the new 2600 MHz frequency range for about 1.5 thousand LTE base stations of the infrastructure operator beCloud.
On 8 April 2019, the company announced a rebranding campaign. It had been using the dual brand velcom | A1 in communications between April and August 2019. The single brand A1 is used since 12 August 2019.
In April 2019, the company started providing free Wi-Fi Internet access in 18 electric trains of Belarusian Railway.
From April to May 2019 А1 provided mobile communication for all tunnels of the Maskoŭskaja and Aŭtazavodskaja lines of Minsk Metro, in November 2020 the communication became available on Zelenoluzhskaya line. As of December 2024, A1 has provided mobile communications at stations on the third line of the Minsk Metro.
On 12 August 2019, the company launched virtual eSIM cards and in the same November gave opportunity to transfer to online eSIM in the user account. In 2021, it became possible to become a subscriber of the company remotely through registration of an eSIM-card in the mobile application "My A1", including number porting from other networks.
In August 2019 А1 presented the first smartphone under its own trade mark — А1 Alpha, in July 2020 А1 Alpha 20+ went on sale.
On 12 November 2019, A1 took part in signing a joint Belarusian-Austrian Declaration on strengthening cooperation in the sphere of communications, IT technologies and 5G technology development. A1 has applied for frequency allocation subject to the international standards of 5G and is currently developing the architecture of the 5G network. On 22 May 2020 A1 brought in test mode the first 5G SA network in Belarus in operation, created on the basis of standalone architecture. On 25 May 2020 the first call in Belarus and the CIS was made on this network using the VoNR technology.
A1 was the second company in the country, which began to sell SIM cards for self-registration in the partner network stores on 12 May 2021.
In June 2023, A1 was the first company in the country to launch a second carrier frequency in the 900 MHz range. This made it possible to almost double the capacity of the existing 3G network within the coverage area of the second carrier in the Minsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev regions. As of the end of 2024, A1 specialists have commissioned 1,057 cells operating at a frequency of 900 MHz as part of the UMTS-900 coverage expansion.
In April 2024, A1 provided 4G connectivity in the Minsk metro (at all existing stations and in the stretches between them). The project was implemented in partnership with the infrastructure operator beCloud.
From Wikipedia’s article on A1 Belarus, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4