Nokia received an export license to supply equipment to Russia

According to the HEAD of MegaFon, Nokia received permission to supply telecom equipment to RUSSIA. it does not fix the decline in communication quality due to the departure of the main manufacturers from the country,

One of the largest manufacturers of telecommunications equipment in the world, Finnish Nokia, has sent four applications for EXPORT licenses: two to European regulators and two to American ones, Khachatur Pombukhchan, the head of MegaFon, said in an interview with RBC. And as far as Pombukhchanu knows, "one was positively satisfied, three are awaiting decisions."

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Nokia is a commercial company. They considered it possible for themselves to agree and fulfill their obligations. [Telecommunications equipment manufacturer] Ericsson, for example, did not see fit to do so. The situation in which we now live will end sooner or later. But people, companies and relationships will remain,” Pombukhchan stressed.

RBC sent a request to Nokia.

Nokia requested US permissionto supply equipment to Russia Technology & Media

The fact that Nokia requested export licenses for the supply of equipment to Russia from the US regulator Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland was told in November by RBC sources in the communications market. They emphasized that this was not about the supply of equipment for expanding networks, but about spare parts necessary to maintain the normal functioning of existing networks for three years. After that, Nokia will liquidate all its Russian legal entities within a year and leave Russia.

How much stock will last

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After the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, the United States and some other countries banned high-tech exports to Russia, so the world's largest manufacturers of telecommunications equipment suspended the supply of their products to Russia. Subsequently, the United States removed telecommunications and Internet equipment from the sanctions list. Nevertheless, American Cisco, European Nokia and Ericsson and a number of other vendors have announced a complete cessation of work in the Russian market. Chinese HUAWEI and ZTE did not make such statements, but actually stopped entering into new contracts.

In an interview with RBC, Khachatur Pombukhchan said that the stock of telecommunications equipment and the existing technical expertise of MegaFon will allow the operator to work in the next 5-7 years without deteriorating the quality of services.

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He also added that the company has not yet recorded a negative impact on the quality of communication due to the departure of foreign vendors of telecom equipment. “Let's get into the numbers: MegaFon's average mobile Internet speed in the third quarter of last year was 22.1 Mbps, which was 1.4 times higher than any of our competitors. In the third quarter of this year it is 25.3 Mbps. It's getting better," he said. In addition, Pombukhchan recalled that MegaFon is the federal operator of VoLTE, a technology that allows you to make calls in LTE networks, and since September of this year, also the federal operator of VoWiFi (allowing you to make calls by connecting to Wi-Fi networks). “That is, subscribers can use Wi-Fi networks both in Russia and in roaming to make calls where there is an insufficient cellular signal,” Pombukhchan said.

At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that in recent years, the volume of consumption of conventional voice communications has been declining, as people are abandoning conventional calls in favor of calls via instant messengers. In this case, the consumption of data transmission increases. “This trend has not changed this year. The volume of consumption, data transfer will grow by 20% - about the same as it grew a year earlier, "says the head of MegaFon.

At the same time, MegaFon has already begun testing Russian telecommunications equipment. However, "this equipment is still at the beginning of the journey," Pombukhchan said. According to him, in order to develop high-quality domestic equipment of the LTE standard, which will cover the current needs of operators and subscribers, it will take about two to three years.

Cisco decided to leave Russia and Belarus Technology and media

In June, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin instructed the creation of industrial centers of competence, which should determine the directions, types and classes of software, as well as equipment that needs to be replaced; what products need to be developed first; and influence the distribution of state support. As part of the work of these centers, at the end of October, Rostelecom entered into a forward contract with Russian manufacturers of equipment for fiber-optic communication networks, T8 Company (assumes the delivery of goods of the agreed quality and quantity on a certain date in the future). At the same time, it was noted that before the end of the year, Rostelecom, together with its subsidiary T2 RTK Holding (provides services under the Tele2 brand), are preparing to conclude several more similar contracts with domestic vendors. The total value of the contracts may reach 20-25 billion rubles.