MOSCOW (WiMAX Day).  The Russian company Scartel LLC announced yesterday that it will work with Samsung Electronics to begin trials of Mobile WiMAX services in Moscow and St Petersburg.Scartel was launched last year after gaining licenses to 2.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum in Russia. According to a company press release, Scartel already has installed 150 base stations in Moscow and 80 in St Petersburg.The company intends that by the end of 2008 “a total of 1,600 Mobile WiMAX base stations will have been deployed in the two cities.” Scartel said that it has already invested USD 200 million in its network.The Mobile WiMAX service will be launched under the brand name Yota.Samsung said that it plans to fully cooperate with Scartel to the network a success. “The future has already arrived; what we are now witnessing in Russia, seemed like science fiction yesterday,” said Samsung Electronics Vice-President Dr. Hungkwon Song.”A full-fledged 4G Mobile WiMAX network has come into operation in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Apart from being the largest network in Russia, it is one of the largest Mobile WiMAX networks in the world.”In addition to network equipment, Samsung also will provide Scratel with equipment such as USB modems. Scartel announced that other CPEs will be available to customers from ASUS, such as their USB modems, ExpressCard, and multiple-access Mobile WiMAX Wi-Fi center.The devices will have software embedded in them that allows access to the Yota network, and are to be made available to consumers through retail outlets in November 2008.The network now is “in full-scale testing” and over the next two months, Scartel says that 2,000 users will be able to participate in testing.Scartel Director General Denis Sverdlov said in a press announcement that “WiMAX is just an instrument making our services truly fast, mobile, and what is the most important, easy to use. We believe that we have created a world-class product that will change the lives of our customers.” The company said it plans to extend the network to cover the largest cities in Russia.