Communication services will be expanded in the regions: how the program will work

In Russia, in 2026, it is planned to expand mobile coverage in small towns and on certain sections of highways. We are talking about the continuation of existing programs for connecting villages and villages to the mobile Internet, as well as the introduction of a mechanism for sharing telecommunications infrastructure. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

Connecting small settlements to the Internet

According to the results of the vote, Russians have identified a list of villages and villages that will be connected to high-speed mobile Internet in 2026 as a matter of priority. We are talking about settlements with a population of 100 to 1000 people. In total, next year it is planned to provide communications in about 1.5 thousand such territories by installing 2G/4G base stations. This was reported by the Ministry of Finance of Russia.

The voting took place from August 25 to November 9, 2025, and was attended by almost 600,000 people. It was possible to cast a vote through the Gosuslugi portal and by mail, with the exception of residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg. More than 367,000 citizens voted online, and over 221,000 voted by mail.

Photo: TASS/Jaap Arriens

The settlements of Dmitrianovskoye in the Yaroslavl Region, Kuzhba in the Komi Republic, Bolshezingereevo and Magadeevo in the Republic of Bashkortostan, as well as Ust-Telengui in the Trans-Baikal Territory received the most support. The most active regions in terms of the number of voting participants were Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Omsk, Ulyanovsk and Chelyabinsk regions.

The final list of settlements will be formed after checking their compliance with the technical requirements of the connection. The Ministry of Finance recalled that voting for the implementation of mobile Internet in small towns has been held since 2021, and during this time, communication has been provided in more than 6 thousand villages and villages.

The program will continue: according to the agency's plans, by 2030, mobile Internet should appear in all settlements with a population of 100 to 1000 people.

Infrastructure sharing

State Duma deputy, Deputy Chairman of the Budget and Taxes Committee Kaplan Panes told Izvestia that the adopted law on the joint use of telecommunications infrastructure was a practical step towards restoring order in communications issues.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev

— Thanks to this, any resident or traveler, regardless of their operator, will be able to call, call for help or use government services digitally. This measure is beneficial to everyone: it saves people from having to look for a special operator for the hinterland, and businesses from unnecessary expenses," Panes said.

This approach, according to Panes, bridges the gap between urban and rural areas and increases the availability of modern technologies.

How will the mechanism of shared access to base stations work?

The basis for improving the quality of communication will be a mechanism for sharing existing base stations, which will make it possible to abandon the construction of new towers in hard-to-reach areas and use existing infrastructure.

"The new law obliges large operators operating in two thirds of the country's regions to provide access to their infrastructure in the listed areas to companies that do not have their own equipment there," Panes said.

Photo: TASS/NEWS.ru/Natalia Shatokhina

Then, according to the parliamentarian, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport will form a list of territories where there is no coverage for all four leading operators. After the list is published, the "recipient" companies will have a month to send a request, and the "donor" operators are required to conclude an agreement with the operating conditions.

At the first stage, the project is planned to be implemented primarily using 2G and 4G networks providing basic voice communication and mobile Internet access. In the future, it is planned to expand the use of domestic telecommunications equipment and introduce new technical solutions. In large cities, the development of fifth-generation (5G) networks is envisaged as part of the communications industry development strategy until 2035.

Communication along federal highways

The law also covers sections of federal highways where there is a lack of coverage and the economic disadvantage of building separate base stations for each operator.

The selection will be based on the criteria of lack of communication between all key operators and low transport load, which makes the project targeted and rational. The first list of routes will be determined by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport, after which operators will begin a phased organization of shared access to networks.

Photo: TASS/URA.RU/Vladimir Zhabrikov

— The role of large private telecom companies in this project is central and regulated. The law explicitly obliges them to share infrastructure in certain territories. This means that if an operator who meets the criteria has a well—developed network in a small town or on a highway section, then he must provide access to it to other major players," concluded Panes.