Ericsson has expanded its partnership in Kazakhstan with Kcell ahead of developing 5G technology for the operator.

The seven-year partnership runs until the end of 2030, and will see Ericsson support Kcell in developing the country's technology infrastructure.

Ericsson, which noted it has worked with Kcell for 25 years, stated that the agreement will see the telco operator deploy 5G technology to at least 50 percent of the country's territory.

The deployment will cover key regions including Almaty, Shymkent, and several others, noted the vendor, with a focus on both urban and rural areas.

A single RAN approach will be applied for the 5G deployment, meaning that the integration of the technology will run off of the existing 2G, 3G, and 4G infrastructure.

"In addition, the transition to 5G makes it possible the creation of a stack of technological platforms around which ecosystems are formed, and the telecom operator becomes a provider of platform services implemented by these technological platforms and provided to ecosystem partners," said Askhat Uzbekov, chairman of the management board of Kcell.

"The operator can create and provide digital services itself, i.e., it can be a provider of end services as it is now, but it will create these services much faster and in much greater quantity and diversity than it does today. And I think cooperation with Ericsson will allow us to realize all these opportunities in the most efficient and seamless way."

Kcell is the biggest mobile operator in Kazakhstan with over 10.5 million mobile subscribers. Founded in 1998, the operator is backed by state-run Kazakhtelecom (KT).