Rostelecom submitted to the Ministry of Digital Industry of Russia a report on the implementation of the 2021 plan for the construction of base stations as part of the second stage of the project to eliminate the digital divide (UTSN 2.0). Fourth generation mobile communications (4G / LTE) became available in 1,201 small settlements throughout Russia.

UTSN 2.0 assumes the emergence of modern mobile communications, including high-speed Internet access using the LTE standard, in settlements with a population of 100 to 500 inhabitants. The base stations are mainly connected via optical fiber and will use the radio frequency range of 2,300-2,400 MHz - this provides a high data transfer rate, and also significantly increases the coverage of settlements with digital infrastructure, as field tests have shown.

The first pilot base station within the UTS 2.0 project was put into operation in March 2021 in the village of Redkoye in the Nazyvaevsky district of the Omsk region. Thanks to her, mobile communications appeared in neighboring settlements. In the course of public testing, the mobile Internet speed in the village reached 50 Mbps, which is enough not only for Internet access, but also for reliable video communication, distance learning or telemedicine. In urban areas, where there is a lot of interference for radio waves, such speeds of mobile data transmission are far from always available.

Why do we need a project to eliminate digital inequality

But there are many territories in Russia where the population density is less than 1-2 people per square kilometer. In small villages and towns, mobile communications are one of the most important needs of the residents. They, like city dwellers, want to use instant messengers and social networks, digital public services, distance education and medicine. But it is not profitable for commercial operators to build networks there because of the small number of consumers and low solvency: the construction of infrastructure will under no circumstances be recouped. Therefore, commercial communication networks are usually not built in such areas.

All over the world, to ensure the availability of basic telecom services for the population in remote and hard-to-reach territories, the mechanism of universal communication services is used. Universal communication services are the minimum package of communication services that should be available to the maximum possible number of citizens of the country. In Russia, the concept of "universal communication services" is enshrined in the Federal Law "On Communication", adopted in 2003. The state finances the creation of the necessary infrastructure, and its construction is carried out by a company appointed by the universal service operator.

Project progress

Rostelecom has been implementing a project to eliminate digital inequality together with the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Russia since 2014. At the first stage, the UCP project included about 14 thousand settlements with a population of 250-500 people with a total population of about 4 million people. In these settlements, Internet access points were organized with a speed of at least 10 Mbit / s.

In April 2021, the Ministry of Digital Industry of Russia and Rostelecom signed an agreement expanding the agreement on the conditions for the provision of universal communication services. It launched the second stage of the project to eliminate the digital divide; the company will have to organize mobile communications in villages and villages with a population of 100 to 500 people, where such services were previously unavailable.

In total, by 2030, mobile communications, including Internet access (4G), will appear in 24 thousand settlements of Russia. The mobile operator Tele2 acts as a competence center: agreeing on a project solution, planning a network architecture, accepting sites and supplying equipment for building a network.

Mikhail Oseevsky: President of Rostelecom

“The emergence of mobile communications and wireless Internet is a very necessary step towards improving the quality of life in the countryside. We consider it important not only to create a technical opportunity to use mobile services, but also to resolve related issues. In a village for 100 residents, as a rule, there is no communication salon, but the issuance of a SIM card and the conclusion of an agreement on the provision of services are possible only upon presentation of a passport. Specialists will go to all settlements where base stations are launched to draw up contracts and issue SIM cards. If you have a SIM card around the clock and free of charge (even with a zero and negative balance), calls will be available to emergency operational services and to numbers determined by the Government of the Russian Federation, for example, to short number 122 - a hotline for help in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. "

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