FOCUS: Provision of new areas with IT services may take much money, time

By Yekaterina Yezhova

MOSCOW, Oct 31 (PRIME) -- Russia is working on provision of its new regions – the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, the Khersonskaya and Zaporozhskaya regions – with connection, state and digital services that, according to the analysts will cost hundreds of millions rubles.

“It is almost impossible to name the exact amount. It is a sum of multiple factors, not only of hardware but also software solutions, access to the Internet and other costs. Evidently, the total goes up to hundreds of millions rubles,” news and research agency TelecomDaily Director Denis Kuskov told PRIME.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko reported to President Vladimir Putin on October 24 on the progress, including on the recently reunited territories.

“In the first place, certainly, it is the recovery of connection networks. We set almost the same standard as for the whole country, for availability of multiplexes and radio channels. We have also allocated capacities for the +7 code for the phone numbers,” Chernyshenko said as quoted in a statement on the Kremlin’s website.

“The most important is that we are handing over ready-made IT solutions, IT technologies to connect the new territories to the portal of state services and the state information systems,” the deputy prime minister also said.

The president signed treaties on accession of the four territories to Russia on September 30, and Chernyshenko said then that the government intends to restore digital infrastructure there.

Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said earlier in October that an infrastructure plan for the launch of state services portal Gosuslugi in the new regions will be ready by the middle of November.

Chernyshenko told Putin that the people of the four regions already have access to Gosuslugi.

News and research agency Content Review head Sergei Polovnikov said that infrastructure investment for laying cables and creation of infrastructure, and the launch of services, like Gosuslugi and the numbering capacity, should be clearly seen separately.

“The first costs money, the second costs nothing. As to infrastructure investment, they could be estimated only after the end of the special military operation because everything is being done in an emergency mode now, while construction of full-fledged infrastructure requires not only money, but also time for planning, which will not start till the operation is over,” Polovnikov told PRIME.

“The planning stage is complicated, because it is not only about laying a cable, roughly speaking – circles should be built to ensure the required level to reserve channels of connection. It’s tough now.”

Polovnikov added that the experience with Crimea shows that the reunited territories have some equipment.

“But it will take several years to build a network similar by the service quality to the Russian networks,” he said.

Kuskov at TelecomDaily sees the main problem in infrastructure restoration, installation of equipment, which would be by foreign makers “since we have no own equipment for mobile connection, for example,” which means the equipment could be taken from the country’s stock.

“It will be difficult to maintain the whole complex in an operable state, keeping in mind that these territories are still under fire,” he said.

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