Bbabo NET

Science & Technology News

Skoltech expert: the development of cellular communications in the Russian Federation has almost stopped

An expert from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) said that the development of cellular communications in the Russian Federation has almost stopped over the past few years due to problems with a shortage of radio frequency spectrum.

“After Soyuz LTE fulfilled its historic mission of distributing the national 4G frequency resource to four operators (MTS, Megafon, VimpelCom and Tele2), nothing significant has happened in mobile communications over the past 10-12 years. The industry seems to have been mothballed: no new spectrum, no new players, no new generation of communications,” said Vitaly Shub, head of the 5G research center at Skoltech.

According to the expert, due to problems with access to the required spectrum of frequencies, new players in the communications market of the Russian Federation have not gained a foothold. The LTE-450 Skylink operator did not take off due to a banal lack of frequencies and an unresolved problem with the aggregation of the 600 kHz frequency band (under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) in the 450 MHz band. The Mobile WiMAX/LTE 2500 operator Yota has become MegaFon's MVNO. Osnova-telecom (2300–2400 MHz) and Antares (1800 MHz) companies, although they built large-scale LTE networks in Moscow, did not launch them due to the blocking of previously issued frequency assignments.

Shub added that over the past three years, as part of significant equipment upgrades and network upgrades, Russian operators have peaked their frequency assignments and approached a median data rate of 18-25 Mbps on average per network. According to him, world leaders on communication equipment of the LTE generation reached speeds of 45 Mbps.

According to the expert, for several years the State Commission on Radio Frequencies has not allocated a radio frequency resource for the commercial launch of a 5G communication network, technological neutrality and refarming of 2G-4G frequencies for the fifth generation of communication networks, which can somehow begin to help correct the situation, does not fixed by law.

Shub believes that one of the reasons for the slowdown in the development of 5G in the Russian Federation was the fixing of the 4.8-4.99 GHz frequency band by the supervisory authorities as a priority, since in this range “it is impossible to provide carpet coverage of the country with a 5G signal, and in cities an access card to the network will be patchy both outside and inside the buildings.”

The expert summed up that “the mass deployment of fifth-generation networks in the Russian Federation in the coming years in the current frequency concept is a utopia,” and it is also necessary to radically correct the current situation with the country’s fatal technological lag in the development of cellular communications.

On August 14, Skoltech Rector Alexander Kuleshov told the media that the emergence of 6G communication networks in the Russian Federation is possible only after the introduction and improvement of 5G within the framework of international cooperation, and the transition from 4G to 6G is impossible. “This is complete nonsense in terms of setting up: switching to 6G without going through 5G will not work. Simply because in mobile communication, the new generation is an incremental technological improvement of the existing standard. To develop the 6G standard, you need to participate in the work of international groups, but you can do this “if you are allowed,” said the rector of Skoltech.

Russian telecom operators are skeptical about the allocation of a large amount of funding for 6G against the backdrop of the current situation in telecom, when there is still no Russian 5G equipment and the development of this generation of networks in the country has practically stopped. In the current situation, operators have even reduced the number of new 4G base stations due to problems with the supply of foreign equipment. In April, Nokia and Ericsson announced that they were curtailing business in Russia due to sanctions. There are no completely Russian base stations with the required characteristics and volume of deliveries yet. Operators even began to install used base stations in less busy regions and try to upgrade stations only in the most profitable areas, where most customers are in megacities.

In June 2022, the Ministry of Digital Development did not issue new permits to telecom operators for 3.4-3.8 GHz frequencies used to provide wireless Internet access services using WiMAX technology. “Communication operators have fulfilled the order of the SCRF and completed the transfer of subscribers from the frequency range of 3.4-3.8 GHz to other communication systems. They had a year to fulfill the order, ”the agency explained.

Beeline in early autumn in Moscow and the Moscow region, as part of the planned refarming, will transfer the frequencies used for 3G in the 2.1 GHz band to LTE (4G). The operator will keep the 3G band in the 900 MHz band for voice communications. Other telecom operators are also going to move away from 3G to modern standards, but not so quickly. MTS reported that they would continue the transfer of this range in Moscow from 3G to LTE "as the network is modernized." MegaFon explained that they carry out refarming as needed, but did not set a deadline.

Skoltech expert: the development of cellular communications in the Russian Federation has almost stopped