Road check: Internet won't appear on part of federal highways
The authorities have abandoned plans for total Internet coverage of federal highways: the State Radio Frequency Commission may remove the requirement to "internetize" their sections with a length of more than 1.6 thousand km. This is a precedent — previously, signalmen were required to cover all these roads. But 90% of them do not have electricity, so it is impossible to install equipment there. In the future, the obligation to deploy the Network may be lifted on other routes, experts do not exclude.
Why is it impossible to cover part of Russian roads with the Internet
Part of the Russian federal highways will not be covered by high-speed mobile Internet due to the inability to connect cellular equipment to the power grid. Therefore, operators will be relieved of the burden of covering such roads in a number of regions. This follows from the materials of the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (GCRF), which were reviewed by Izvestia. In particular, we are talking about sections of federal highways in the Arkhangelsk, Vladimir, Vologda, Orenburg, Samara, and Chelyabinsk regions.
Covering 99.9% of federal highways was one of the conditions for issuing LTE frequencies to the Big Four cellular operators in 2011 and extending these permits in 2021.
However, as the interdepartmental working group under the Ministry of Finance, established in 2023, found out, the infrastructure necessary for the construction of LTE networks is available only on 10% of the highway sections surveyed by it. In this regard, the remaining 90% of uncovered sections of federal highways cannot be provided with LTE coverage, according to the materials of the state commission.
— The draft decision of the State Emergency Committee specifies the coordinates of points on the roads between which there is no connection and there will be no connection. So far, the state commission wants to remove obligations from mobile operators to cover more than 1,608 km of federal highways with LTE networks, including 463.6 km on the M-5 highway (in Orenburg, Samara, Sverdlovsk, Ulyanovsk, Chelyabinsk regions and Tatarstan), and 1095.7 km on the M-8 highway (in Arkhangelsk, Vladimir and Vologda regions), and on the M-12 highway — 48.9 km (in Tatarstan and the Sverdlovsk region), — estimated Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNews Research.
The total length of the M-5 highway is 1,879 km, the M-8 is 1,271 km, and the M—12 is 795 km. Thus, about 25%, 86% and 6% of their length, respectively, account for the sections for which the SCRC intends to remove obligations from operators to cover LTE networks, the expert noted. He noted that these roads are united by the deadline for Internet coverage, which expires at the end of 2025. Operators will seek to exclude site after site from the communications program as they commit to deploying base stations there, the expert believes.
According to Rosavtodor data for 2024, the total length of federal highways was just over 66.2 thousand km.
— Hundreds of kilometers of federal highways still do not have LTE coverage. This is economically unprofitable for operators: they do not want to install base stations where few cars pass and, accordingly, they will not be able to recoup their investments due to the large volume of telecom traffic," Leonid Konik explained.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Transport.
The draft decision of the State Emergency Committee does not imply the cancellation of the conditions for the use of previously allocated radio frequency bands, but only approves the list of highway sections for which these encumbrances do not apply due to the lack of an opportunity to connect to the power grid, the Ministry of Finance explained to Izvestia. When extending the permits for LTE frequencies, it was decided that they should build a communication infrastructure along the roads. Operators are actively engaged in this work and should provide 70% LTE coverage in September 2025, and 100% of federal highways by 2031, but only those sections that are provided with the necessary energy infrastructure, the department noted.
"In those areas where there is no such infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance is discussing with the Ministry of Energy the possibility of optimizing solutions for connecting to power grids, as well as with the authorities of the constituent entities the possibility of allocating subsidies from the regional budget for the technical connection of communication facilities to the electric grid," the department added. — A draft law is currently being prepared for the second reading, which, among other things, proposes to consolidate in legislation the possibility of placing antenna-mast communication facilities directly within the boundaries of the right-of-way. This will ensure the most efficient coverage of the highway section with a cellular signal and speed up Internet coverage measures.
How to provide Internet for Russian drivers
Denis Kuskov, CEO of Telecom Daily, recalled that it is impossible to cover most of the highways of federal importance with mobile Internet, since there are no power grids nearby, operators have been talking for several years. At the same time, experience shows that the traffic generated by the base stations located along the roads often does not cover the cost of supplying power to them in any reasonable time. Of the available 10% of the length of federal highways, about 70% is now fully covered by the Internet, Denis Kuskov added.
According to him, in the context of sanctions and the rising cost of infrastructure equipment supplied by parallel imports, LTE road coverage is expensive. The sections of road mentioned in the decision of the State Emergency Committee had to be covered by the end of this year, but over time the burden for signallers can be lifted on other sections, the expert emphasized. He sees the Internet from Russian low-orbit satellite groups (analogs of Elon Musk's Starlink) as an alternative for drivers.
"Russian car owners and drivers can only rely on Roscosmos and new satellite groupings capable of providing ubiquitous high—speed Internet access, primarily the low-orbit Rassvet system, which is being created by Bureau 1440 LLC," Leonid Konik agrees.
Vimpelcom declined to comment.
— We welcome this initiative. By the end of 2024, T2 fully covered the M-4, M-11, and M-12 highways, and carried out network development work on the M-5 and M-10. However, there are objective obstacles that prevent the roads from being completely covered, such as the lack of external power supply," said Daria Kolesnikova, a representative of the company. — The draft decision of the State Emergency Committee finalizes the results of surveys conducted by operators to study the possibility of building mobile radiotelephone networks along federal highways in certain areas where none of the operators have coverage. These "white spots" were identified as a result of the "overlap" of the "big four" coverage maps.
MTS is aware of the draft decision of the State Emergency Committee. The operator invests in the development of communication infrastructure on highways. To resolve all issues, including connection to the electric grid, the company closely cooperates with federal and regional authorities at various levels, the press service noted.
"We are carrying out work on covering highways in accordance with approved plans and schedules agreed with the Ministry of Finance," MTS says.
The decision of the SCRC is a precedent—setting one - it is important to understand whether it will be the only one of its kind or whether the encumbrances on operators will be removed in the future, says Konstantin Ankilov, CEO of TMT Consulting. Indeed, there is no electricity on many sections of the tracks, installing generators there and constantly bringing fuel to them is not an option, he noted.
According to him, plans for Internet coverage of federal highways are becoming more realistic — it is worthwhile to improve communication primarily where possible from the point of view of energy, the expert points out. As for covering roads with low-orbit communications satellites, this is a matter of at least the early 2030s, the expert concluded.
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