- Статьи
- Economy
- Raise to the tower: a large-scale telecom construction project may unfold in the Russian Federation
Raise to the tower: a large-scale telecom construction project may unfold in the Russian Federation
The operators asked the Ministry of Finance to take into account the creation of communication networks in integrated territorial development (CDT) projects. This means that such equipment may appear in new and reconstructed social, sports and cultural facilities, commercial real estate, and medical institutions. Previously, operators insisted mainly on allocating sites in residential buildings. According to experts, the integration of infrastructure during the construction phase will help to connect buildings or public spaces where it is unstable or completely absent. In addition, this approach will create the basis for the deployment of 5G networks, which require a denser network of base stations compared to existing standards in order to function properly, the experts added.
How to improve the quality of communication during landscaping
When implementing complex territorial development projects, developers will have to create a basic infrastructure for communication networks and equipment. The operators sent such a proposal to the Ministry of Finance as part of the preparation of a new version of the Industry Development Strategy until 2035. Izvestia has reviewed the document. Reserving places for urban landscaping, which involves the construction of new buildings and the repair of old ones, according to the companies, will make telecom services more accessible to subscribers, as well as reduce the time and cost of deploying networks.
The operators also emphasize the need to provide places in advance for laying networks and placing equipment at sports facilities, medical institutions, as well as in buildings over 20 floors high. Earlier, the proposals sent to the Ministry of Finance of Russia dealt exclusively with the provision of communication infrastructure in new residential complexes.
The integrated development of the territories provides for the demolition and reconstruction of old houses, the development of social, transport and engineering infrastructure, the improvement of abandoned sites, industrial zones, explained Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily. In the renovated territories, there are often no conditions for laying networks and locating base stations. As a result, residents and employees working in such areas may have problems with signal quality. In addition, in some cases, cables and base stations entering the reconstruction area have to be moved. This, as the expert noted, often leads to a temporary loss of communication in nearby residential buildings and office buildings.
— Rostelecom's B2B segment has long discussed the need for legislative consolidation of telecom infrastructure in the field of construction, especially socially significant facilities, as well as in projects of integrated territorial development. This is the first time it has been translated into the realm of rulemaking. For large businesses, this is a signal for systemic changes, rather than the point—to—point agreements that exist now," Timofey Abramenko, the company's vice president for product development and work with small and medium-sized enterprises, told Izvestia.
According to him, residents of the houses and entrepreneurs complain about poor communication in their own apartments and commercial premises on the ground floors. This is especially acute in high—rise buildings with energy-efficient glazing and monolithic concrete - such buildings become "Faraday cages" that do not transmit a signal from the street.
There are no standard technical requirements for developers either — each facility is coordinated from scratch, which takes months, Timofey Abramenko noted. High rental rates for the placement of equipment on the roofs and technical floors of residential complexes and business centers are also among the obstacles: management companies monopolize prices, he noted.
The Ministry of Finance regularly receives various initiatives related to the activities of participants in the telecom industry, all of them are being considered, the ministry told Izvestia. At the same time, there have been no official requests for the preparation of a regulatory framework or specific proposals on this issue, according to the Ministry.
At the same time, as noted by a source of Izvestia familiar with officials of several relevant departments, the ministry received the operators' proposals and asked them to specify them. The editorial board also sent a request to the Ministry of Construction.
Operators have repeatedly raised the issue of the need to include telecommunications infrastructure in the mandatory list of requirements for the implementation of CRT projects, said Oleg Yablokov, NTI expert on wireless communications. Their position boils down to the fact that networks should be designed and built simultaneously with engineering networks — water supply, sewerage, heat supply and electricity, and not catch up with ready-made buildings after the fact. According to him, operators are seeking legislative consolidation of the mandatory infrastructure section in the territory planning documentation (RPT) within the framework of the CRT, equal access to technical facilities, cable channels and equipment locations inside new facilities, coordination with the developer at the design stage, and not after the houses are put into operation.
"The proposals of the signalers are not lobbying for private business, but a request to eliminate a systemic gap in urban planning regulation," the expert explained.
Will the construction of infrastructure help the development of 5G
The digital infrastructure of modern urban areas and social facilities should take into account the convergence of wired and wireless data transmission networks, the separation of office and public networks, the growing demand for the Internet of Things (IoT), and the development of AI, said Alkhas Mirzabekov, CEO of the EIC operator. This is a matter of matching the urban environment to global challenges and the convenience of citizens' living.
— In Moscow, during the construction of such facilities, digitalization standards developed by the Department of Information Technology for Residential and Social facilities are being implemented. In the Moscow region, we often work with developers already at the design stage and take the capital's standards and best practices as a guideline. Therefore, it would be advisable to introduce common basic requirements for the design and modernization of social buildings," he believes.
In his opinion, the placement of equipment at such facilities provides reliable communication not only for the facilities themselves, but also for the surrounding areas, in particular, residents of neighboring houses.
The creation of infrastructure in landscaped areas will not only eliminate "dead zones" in urban areas, but also create a foundation for the future, Denis Kuskov noted. As early as 2026, according to the plans of the Ministry of Finance, the deployment of the first 5G networks should begin in the Russian Federation. The expert explained that 5G requires a much denser network of base stations compared to LTE. This means that it is necessary to provide in advance places for the placement of equipment in residential buildings, commercial and office buildings, as well as to increase the number of cell towers. Even today, finding suitable locations remains a difficult task, and with the development of new communication standards, this problem may worsen, he stressed, adding that it is advisable to lay the appropriate infrastructure at the design stage.
— Practice shows that if you lay down the infrastructure for communications at the zero stage, especially when it comes to large-scale integrated development projects, it is much easier, cheaper and technologically more correct than building networks on top of ready-made concrete. In particular, we consider it necessary to introduce a mandatory section "Telecommunications infrastructure" into the project documentation, with approval at the excavation stage, by analogy with energy and water supply. It is also important to legislate tariffs for access to the common property of an apartment building so that management companies cannot overstate the rent for operators," Timofey Abramenko believes.
Meanwhile, designing and building infrastructure in new and reconstructed areas alone is not enough — it is necessary to ensure that signalmen have access to it, says Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNews Research. According to him, cellular companies have been facing unreasonably high charges for the placement of equipment for many years, which are not regulated in any way. Thus, owners of high-rise buildings located in commercially attractive locations with a high concentration of subscribers often impose extremely harsh conditions on operators when placing base stations on roofs, the expert says. Therefore, in his opinion, along with the adjustment of building codes, it is advisable to adopt a law on non-discriminatory access of telecom operators to high-rise buildings.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
