Russian operator Scartel (Yota)  has launched its LTE network in St Petersburg on 31 August. The launch was preceded by testing of LTE network earlier in the month of August that required service interruptions for existing WiMAX devices.

The operator had started offering free new LTE devices to replace Wimax end-user devices for subscribers since July and is still continuing.

Company has already switched on commercial LTE network in many cities including Moscow, Vladivostok and Ufa since switching to LTE technology from WiMAX earlier this year in May.