Optical transport networks
The basic infrastructure designed for high-speed data transmission over distances from tens to hundreds of kilometers. This type networks are built on the basis of wave multiplexing technologies: DWDM (dense spectral multiplexing technology) and CWDM (coarse spectral multiplexing technology).
Backbone multiservice networks (IP/MPLS)
NVision Group offers modern developments in the field of building backbone multiservice networks based on IP/MPLS technology (multiprotocol label switching). They provide data transmission, Internet access, IP Multimedia services, including digital video stream transmission in Multicast/Unicast mode (IPTV, videotelephony).
Broadband networks
Broadband access networks represent the basic infrastructure for Triple Play services ("voice - data - video") and provide:
- the possibility of providing various services within a single infrastructure;
- modularity and high density of aggregation, allowing operators to serve subscribers in densely populated regions;
- highly scalable and manageable network.
xPON
The most common type of xPON is GPON (Gigabit Ethernet PON) technology, which uses special GEM (GPON Encapsulation Method) encapsulation and provides more high speed downstream transmission (from operator to subscriber) - 2.448 Gbps. Thanks to this solution, it is possible to provide subscribers with Internet access at a speed of more than 50 Gbps.
Mobile Backhaul
Mobile backhaul networks are an effective infrastructure solution that provides mobile operators communications ample opportunities to provide high-value services, such as video streaming.
Wireless networks
Building networks of a new generation of LTE
To date, LTE has been recognized as the best standard for cellular networks. According to analysts, by 2020 LTE will take 80% of the global mobile communications market. The active growth of the market for high value-added services, the widespread use of mobile and tablet devices are key factors in the development of commercial LTE networks. NVision Group has a unique expertise in the design and construction of LTE networks.
Radio relay networks
Most of the operator's transport network is built on the basis of microwave networks. NVision Group offers a full range of works and services for the design and construction of microwave networks based on solutions from Ericsson and NEC, as well as other industry leaders.
Completed projects
The implementation of the project allowed the operator to increase throughput its long-distance transport network by 10 times and on its basis develop new generation local networks (NGN), as well as provide subscribers with a lot of new high-tech services.
The main task was to create and upgrade a high-speed data transmission network for Rostelecom. As part of the complex project, it was planned to build a high-performance multi-service backbone network based on IP/MPLS technology, allowing the telecom operator to provide its customers with a full portfolio of modern services.
The main task set for NVision Group was to create a platform for the provision of Triple Play services (digital telephony, high-speed Internet access, digital television) based on IP/MPLS network and organization of broadband access.
When asked if the operator intends to sell towers in Russia and the CIS, VimpelCom CEO Mikhail Slobodin replied that the company does not comment on its intentions.
At the beginning of the year, VimpelCom had already closed a deal to sell its towers in Italy: in March, Wind Telecomunicazioni, a 100% subsidiary of VimpelCom, sold a 90% stake in Galata, which owns more than 7.3 thousand units. cell towers. The deal amounted to €693 million, and the Spanish company Cellnex Telecom (formerly Abertis Infraestructuras SA) became the buyer. The sale of this business allowed VimpelCom to demonstrate an almost six-fold increase in net profit in the first quarter of 2015, to $184 million.
Infrastructure mobile operators in numbers
123.6 thousand base stations at the end of 2014had a segment leader— MegaFon, he owns 33.6% of all towers built in Russia
97,7% Russian base stations belonged to four operators - MegaFon, MTS, VimpelCom and Tele2
2.04 thousand of the base stations which are not authorized for use, revealed Roskomnadzor for June, 2015, from them more than a half belongs to "big four"
42.05 thousand base stations in Russia supported data transmission under the LTE standard at the end of 2014, compared to 2013, their number increased by 3.4 times
By 3% the number of base stations increased in the first half of 2015 compared to the first half of 2014
112.9 thousand conclusions of the electromagnetic compatibility examination were issued to operators - MTS, MegaFon, VimpelCom and Tele2 - for six months
RUB 25.4 billion spent by the MTS operator on the construction of base stations in the first quarter of 2015
Shares of telecom operators by number of base stations in 2014
MegaFon - 33.6% (123.6 thousand units)
MTS - 26.7% (98.2 thousand units)
VimpelCom - 21.8% (80.2 thousand units)
Tele2 - 15.6% (57.3 thousand pieces)
Regional operators - 2.3% (8.4 thousand units)
Investments of the largest telecom operators in network development in the first quarter of 2015
MTS - 25.4 billion rubles.
Tele2 — 10 billion rubles.
MegaFon - 8 billion rubles.
VimpelCom — RUB 5.4 billion
Source: Roskomnadzor, company data
joint venture
The Russian Towers company builds antenna-mast structures in Russia and leases them to operators. The company was founded in 2009 by the UFG Asset Management fund, the Australian holding Macquarie Renaissance Infrastructure Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the investment company ADM Capital, the Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corporation and the investment company International Finance Corporation (IFC). The exact shares of co-owners were not disclosed. Since its inception, the company, according to its own data, has received about 7 billion rubles. investments in the form of equity and debt financing.
Russian Towers and VimpelCom can create a joint venture, up to 25% of which the operator can retain in order to influence the activities of the new company and participate in the growth of its value, Chub said. The operator will transfer the infrastructure to the new company, and the Russian Towers - money and their own towers, which they have in this moment about 1.5 thousand, he stressed.
According to him, Russian Towers are ready to buy 10-20 thousand towers. The company has already begun work on attracting financing in the form of equity and debt capital, continues Chub. Depending on the scale of the transaction, the volume of attraction can reach up to 50-60 billion rubles.
MegaFon periodically communicates with Russian Towers, Tatyana Zvereva, a representative of the operator, told RBC. But today the operator is not discussing "concrete cooperation projects," she added. At the same time, the operator is considering various options for optimizing costs in terms of infrastructure, Zvereva noted.
MTS and Russian Towers discussed possible cooperation, but the scheme with the sale of towers is not very interesting in the current situation, said MTS representative Dmitry Solodovnikov. According to him, MTS has already built almost all the antenna-mast structures it needs, most of them have already paid off.
A Tele2 representative declined to comment.
Chief position
VimpelCom CEO Mikhail Slobodin said in an interview with RBC in May that, despite the pressure of the exchange rate, "raising the efficiency of investments by 30-40% is a completely solvable task." “We are optimizing in almost all respects. We did a lot of work with vendors [equipment suppliers] to reduce costs - they knocked out discounts. We launched a program to reduce the cost of renting sites, of which we have more than 30 thousand: somewhere we leave expensive resources, somewhere we get discounts. A serious, profound transformation is taking place,” Slobodin. For example, according to him, VimpelCom has a sharing project ( sharing infrastructure) with MTS.
According to Slobodin, operators, with varying degrees of success, are “looking for themselves” in adjacent niches: there is already a huge infrastructure that can work in other segments, so companies are moving into the content area. In addition, VimpelCom is going for a direction for itself - mobile financial services. According to Slobodin, operators should occupy the niche of micropayments (from 10 thousand to 1.5 thousand rubles). According to Ivan Kim, an analyst at VTB Capital, now the share of revenue from the operator's financial services is 0.5%. As planned by Slobodin, this figure should grow to 3-5%.
Belt tightening
Operators are spending tens of billions to build base stations. For example, in the first quarter of 2015 alone, MTS invested 25.4 billion rubles. in infrastructure, T2 RTK Holding (Tele2 brand) - 10 billion rubles, MegaFon - 8 billion rubles, and VimpelCom - 5.4 billion rubles.
As Sergei Polovnikov, editor of the Content Review agency, explains, a tower is an infrastructural building, base stations of all operators are always hung on one tower, and this is by and large not a matter of competition. “Building a tower is difficult, expensive, and the income from it is zero, unless you yourself hang on it. About 90% of the towers now stand in godforsaken places. Why not rent out the place? There are no technological risks,” says Polovnikov.
As a rule, three such sectors are installed on one tower, Denis Kuskov, CEO of the information and analytical agency Telecom Daily, disagrees. The operator may need to install additional base station sectors (antennas) on the tower, but if the tower is overloaded, the owner may fail, warns Kuskov.
Operators in mature markets, where core business growth is slowing, are starting to engage in tough optimization, says Artur Akopyan, managing partner at UFG Private Equity: they are starting to think about how efficiently they use the tower fleet, whether they can benefit from the fact that part of which will be leased to its competitor. Towers, he believes, as a passive infrastructure are no longer a competitive commercial advantage, operators stopped measuring the number of towers about two years ago, as soon as the coverage issue was resolved, and now they compete on the quality of services. Therefore, in some cases, operators sell their towers to independent infrastructure operators, who then lease the antenna-mast structures, Akopyan added.
. "Moscow region today"
In the near future, the Unified Book of Complaints will appear on the Internet in the Moscow region, and their rating will depend on how the heads of municipalities react to the statements of residents. And on a separate resource it will be possible to complain about the poor quality of communication, and these appeals will also not go unnoticed. Details are in the interview. Maksuta Shadayeva, minister government controlled, information technologies and communications of the Moscow region.
Communication between technology and management
- Maksut Igorevich, please tell us about the main tasks of the ministry you are in charge of. Perhaps, the combination of functions of public administration, information technology and communications is not accidental in our high-tech age?
– the main objective introduction of modern information technologies - to simplify and facilitate access to public services. The use of new technologies is the main factor in optimizing the entire system of public administration and increasing its efficiency.
In addition, our ministry is busy developing the infrastructure of all types of communications in the Moscow region. Telecom operators are often ready to invest heavily in infrastructure development, but cannot do this due to the inertia of local authorities and a large number of administrative barriers. While the development of infrastructure generates competition and, therefore, entails a reduction in prices.
Unfortunately, often in the Moscow region, residents of apartment buildings have a choice of only one operator. In such circumstances, it is not necessary to talk about the flexibility of pricing policy. But such situations can be “embroidered” by creating simplified conditions for operators to access the market.
- Often, residents still prefer fixed rather than mobile Internet connections, considering the latter to be too expensive. How are things going with the development of this direction?
– This is also due to distortions in the infrastructure. In the Moscow region, when connecting apartment buildings, cable connection still prevails. The capital is already largely covered by a network with data transmission according to the LTE standard. There is a high concentration of the population, a lot of competition and operators put new base stations of just such a standard. To guarantee the LTE standard, the operator's base station must be connected with a fiber optic connection, which is much more difficult and expensive to do in the Moscow region than in the capital. Moreover, "dead zones" remain in the region, where the density of base stations is insufficient and mobile communications are generally inaccessible to the population. Often this is due to the complex process of obtaining permission to allocate land for the installation of base stations.
There will be an infrastructure operator in the region
– What can really be done so that the operator optimizes pricing policy?
- The price falls when the market is saturated with offers and there is a tough competition between operator companies for a subscriber. What kind of competition can we talk about if, say, there is only one operator in the house, and the residents naturally pay more?
The most important initiative in this area is the introduction of a mandatory requirement for the mandatory connection of multi-apartment buildings under construction to at least two independent Internet service providers. The developer simply will not be able to hand over the house without fulfilling this requirement.
Now the regional government is discussing a project to create a large infrastructure operator in the Moscow region. This will be a company that will consolidate the management of the infrastructure for telecom operators' access to end subscribers. It will facilitate access to users due to the fact that it will take over the functions of interaction with municipalities, obtaining permits for the installation of base stations and antenna-mast structures, as well as for laying lines to residential buildings. The task of this infrastructure intermediary is to give telecom operators a single, understandable and transparent tariff for the provision of services. This is where the element of competition for the subscriber will arise.
It is very important that the infrastructure operator will be owned by the government of the Moscow Region. It will not independently provide communication services. Rather, it has a social mission - to provide the subscriber with the opportunity to choose from which telecom operator to buy a service.
- Maksut Igorevich, what is the real time frame for creating such an infrastructure intermediary and preparing the entire regulatory framework for its activities?
– We expect this company to start operating at the end of 2014. We have already collected preliminary applications from operators, where they intend to install new base stations, in which settlements, there is an interest in connecting houses, and we have begun work with the relevant municipalities. In the summer, it is planned to launch a special website where any resident of the Moscow region will be able to leave a review about where the connection does not work well. On the territory, which will be the most complaints, telecom operators will be asked to pay increased attention. The regional government, helping operators to connect new facilities in desired areas, will ask them to take on social burdens, for example, provide significant discounts for connecting budgetary institutions (schools, hospitals, municipal enterprises).
A radical change in thinking
- One of the important activities of your ministry is to ensure the functioning of "electronic government". In your opinion, at what stage is this process now?
“We are taking the first steps in this direction. The fact is that in the Moscow region there is a high percentage of older people who do not have the required degree of computer literacy. Therefore, we go two ways. For those who have a computer “on you”, we are transferring all communication to the Internet, minimizing face-to-face communication with officials. And for the older generation, an extensive network of multifunctional centers is being created, the staff of which will provide the most comfortable communication with the operator with a minimum waiting time in line.
Now the opening of multifunctional centers is one of the key priorities for us. The MFC network in the Moscow region, along with the introduction of electronic document management in municipalities, are the most important components of what is called "electronic government". Such centers are a joint project the governments of the region and municipalities, and about 70% of the work here depends on the desire and responsibility of the local authorities. After all, this is a change in the system of work that has evolved over decades, all the processes of providing services, which is impossible without a restructuring of thinking.
- With the introduction of "electronic document management" will the system change dramatically?
- Of course! And the thinking of an official, too. After all, there will be fundamentally different terms for consideration of documents. When the local authorities realize the advantages of communication in electronic form, then they begin to rebuild vertical communication in a similar way. And communication with residents is planned to be established both in the on-line system and using traditional forms.
Unified complaint book
- Probably, the number of applications is increasing? How to deal with them?
- The pilot operation of the call center of the government of the Moscow Region is already underway, where any citizen can call and tell about their problem. So far, the call center is working on complaints to the State Housing Inspectorate, since the largest number of complaints is related to the activities of management companies and the state of housing and communal services.
This summer, the launch of the site is scheduled, the preliminary name of which is “The Unified Book of Complaints”. On it, any resident of the Moscow region will be able to complain about absolutely anything, from problems in the improvement of their yard, problems at the entrance, and ending with the work of municipal institutions and officials. All appeals will be reduced to a single database. The governor made a decision: for all complaints received through the call center and the Unified Complaint Book, clear deadlines for eliminating problems will be set - no more than 3 days.
Now the incoming complaint eventually returns to the same level that they complain about. At the same time, the efficiency of work on the problem is quite low. To avoid this situation, there are two ways. First, the author will be able to make any complaint public on the new portal. Other users will be able to support her by voting for her. The more votes a complaint gets, the higher will be the level at which it will be taken under control. Naturally, a serious mechanism for authorization and protection against fraud will be provided. The second way: a citizen, having received an answer to his complaint, will be able to evaluate this answer, rejecting deliberate "replies". If he is dissatisfied with the answer, then the complaint automatically goes to a higher level of control. If the problem is promised to be eliminated after a certain period, then the system automatically puts such an obligation under control. The system itself will remind the author of the complaint when he will have to evaluate the final result.
- Is there any rating of municipalities based on the results of the work of the future portal?
- Naturally. And it will be closely linked to the rating of heads of municipalities, which is being developed by the government of the Moscow Region. It will consist of three components: statistical indicators of the socio-economic development of the region, data from a sociological survey and just a rating for handling complaints and eliminating problems, satisfaction of residents with the quality of feedback from the authorities. Public ratings in various areas of activity of local authorities and municipal institutions are a very effective means of motivating officials and debugging the management system. The rating does not allow the official to forget that he is, in fact, a servant of the people. After all, a low place in the ranking is a serious reason for thinking for the official responsible for the relevant area of activity. BUT Feedback with the residents of the Moscow region - this is the foundation on which all our work stands. On each of the sites that the regional government plans to launch, there will be a section where you can complain about the work of the sites themselves and the availability of information on them. And we will get a direct response from the population.
- Here again the question of ownership of the population of the Internet arises. Why not include complaints about the work of the call center and the Unified Complaints Book in the list of services provided by the MFC?
By the way, that's a good idea! Maybe we will. Through special infomats or through MFC operators, a resident will be able to evaluate the work of our portals. Operators do not have a conflict of interest, moreover, if they are required to accept complaints, they can help to purposefully redirect these complaints. It is also possible that, in addition to the complaints portal, we will work with district public chambers after they are reformatted. A number of problems that these people complain about can be solved through these bodies.
Statistics:
Currently, 37 MFCs of municipalities are open in the Moscow region. By the end of 2015, it is planned to open another 56 MFCs, of which 32 MFCs will open in 2014. Now on the basis of the MFC, the provision of 96 types of state and municipal services, including: 15 types of federal services; 39 - regional services; 42 types of municipal services.
The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications supports the idea single operator to create 5G. Interfax writes about this with reference to Deputy Minister Oleg Ivanov. The official explained the need for a single operator by the lack of frequencies in the low range (up to 6 GHz). Preliminary studies show that “we have a problem with frequencies,” and in order to feel all the benefits of 5G, we need a bandwidth of 200 MHz, Interfax reports Ivanov’s words.
According to Ivanov, the ministry recently adopted a concept for the development of 5G in Russia, which showed the economic and technological advantages of the infrastructure operator. However, officials are sure that one company cannot be such an operator. “It must be some kind of consortium, as we see it,” he specified. Ivanov promised to collect Russian operators to discuss the issue, but threatened that if industry participants did not agree, "then other players may appear."
In May, PwC assessed possible scenarios for the development of 5G in Russia: the scenario of creating a single 5G operator may require 330-365 billion rubles. Independent development of 5G by operators may result in costs not exceeding 610 billion rubles.
In mid-November, Kommersant wrote about negotiations to create a consortium to build infrastructure for 5G. According to the publication, it may include " Rostelecom", "Rostec" and " Megaphone ». « Megaphone" and " Rostelecom» back in the fall of 2017, they began to cooperate in the development of 5G networks. " Megaphone” received permission from the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF) to test 5G networks in the 3400–3800 MHz and 24.25–29.5 GHz bands in all 11 cities that hosted the World Cup. " Rostelecom” received for experiments frequencies in the range of 3.4–3.8 GHz in some cities and regions of Russia. Until the end of the III quarter, the operators had to send the results of their tests to the State Committee for Radio Frequencies.
T2 RTK Holding (Tele2 brand) considers it expedient to create a single infrastructure operator for the construction of 5G networks, as this will allow cellular companies to optimize costs, says Olga Galushina, a representative of the operator. Considering that prices for mobile communication in Russia, one of the lowest in the world and the 5G service is unlikely to immediately become mass, it makes sense to save costs and build a single network for several operators, she believes.
Creation of an infrastructure operator will not solve the problem of shortage of frequency resources, says a spokesman MTS Alexey Merkutov. The decisive factor in launching the first commercial 5G networks is the allocation of frequencies on a transparent basis and for adequate money, he believes. And monopolization is fraught not only with a technological lag and an increase in the cost of services, but also threatens fault tolerance, Merkutov believes. Creating a single 5G infrastructure operator instead of several competing players makes it impossible to physically duplicate networks, he warns.
Vice President for Strategy at VimpelCom (works under the brand " Beeline”) Alexander Popovsky considers the deployment of 5G through a consortium of operators more promising if conditions for competition are provided and the reliability of the network does not suffer. This is ensured by a mandatory level of redundancy, he emphasizes. But more important is the lack of frequencies for new generation networks - to transmit growing traffic to Russian market in aggregate, at least 600 MHz of spectrum is needed, and the 3.4–3.8 GHz range, where it is most economically justified to deploy 5G networks, is just not enough in Russia. And to continue the release of frequencies in this spectrum is a task of national importance, Popovsky is sure.
« Rostelecom” remains a supporter of the model of a single infrastructure operator, says the representative of the operator Valery Kostarev. This will reduce the cost, and most importantly, accelerate the deployment of fifth-generation networks and solve the problem of a shortage of radio frequency resources, he believes. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications presented to operators the concept of development of a 5G, the companies took time for the analysis of the document, he added.
A spokesman for Megafon declined to comment.
The 5G standard allows you to transfer data at speeds over 10 Gbps. It is distinguished by the need to install base stations at a closer distance compared to current standards - this increases costs. The technology will accelerate the development of the Internet of things by connecting hundreds of thousands of sensors and various automatic devices, such as cars, to the network.
At the end of October, Ivanov proposed changing the procedure for issuing frequencies by operators during the construction of 5G generation networks. According to his idea legal entities must submit applications to the SCRF for allocation of frequencies to cover local objects (in Moscow it can be, for example, "City" or "Skolkovo"), and not on the territory of the whole country or a separate region. There are no frequencies for 5G throughout Russia, and global coverage of 5G regions will require huge capital expenditures from operators, he explained his proposal.
June 1st. /TASS/. The head of Rostelecom, Mikhail Oseevsky, believes that against the backdrop of the upcoming development of 5G technology and the need to create an appropriate communications infrastructure, all operators should join forces and create a single infrastructure operator. He stated this during the round table "Russia in touch: the country's digital economy in the 5G landscape" organized by Kommersant at the SPIEF-2017.
"It is important for us to come to the conclusion that such an infrastructure should be created together. The topic of creating an infrastructure operator, it seems to me, is very correct, and it is a matter of time before we start discussing possible approaches to creating a common platform," he said. "I think it's a few years horizon," he added.
Tele2 CEO Sergey Emdin agrees with the head of Rostelecom that the combined efforts of operators in the construction of 5G infrastructure will save significant money. According to him, the construction of such networks is the task of operators, and the state can stimulate growth and attract investment in this area, for example, by setting the goal of creating "smart cities".
The need for large-scale investments in communications infrastructure for the development of 5G was also discussed by the CEO of MegaFon Sergey Soldatenkov. The head of MegaFon also noted that it is important to resolve the issue of allocating a range for 5G. According to Soldatenkov, the "700th band" could be allocated for these purposes. To date, the decision to allocate specific bands for 5G has not been made either in Russia or at the global level.
The head of VimpelCom, Shell Johnsen, believes that it makes no sense to build infrastructure separately if you can combine efforts. He noted that it is necessary to discuss this issue with vendors so that they also receive their proceeds in this situation.
The head of MTS Andrey Dubovskov, in turn, noted that for the operator the history of creating a single infrastructure operator is "not obvious." He recalled that in this moment about 30% of infrastructure facilities of operators are already in mutual lease. “5G technology will require the placement of these base stations in cities every 100 meters,” he said, adding that the operator in this case will have to negotiate separately with each owner of the house and manhole. “Organics is much more productive in this sense,” he stressed, noting that MTS will have enough investments for the development of 5G.
The Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, Nikolay Nikiforov, explained that the development of 5G in Russia is necessary to ensure the operation of the ever-increasing number of “Internet of things” devices. The technology of the fifth generation of communication can also become the basis for the development of unmanned vehicles in Russia. The minister believes that the state should approach the issue of regulating the telecommunications industry very carefully and take into account the need for large-scale investments by operators in the communications infrastructure.
According to Nikiforov, there is no direct connection between the estimated costs of meeting the requirements of the Yarovaya package and providing 5G infrastructure. The minister noted that the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications is currently working with law enforcement agencies to determine the composition of the requirements of the Yarovaya package.
SPIEF runs from 1 to 3 June. Forum events are united by the motto "In Search of a New Balance in the Global Economy". TASS acts as the general media partner and official photo-host agency of the SPIEF. In addition, the agency is the operator of the presentation zone of the forum.