PRESS: Rostelecom weighs total investments in 5G launch at 1 tln rbl

MOSCOW, May 31 (PRIME) -- Investments into unrolling 5G networks in Russia, estimated at about 1 trillion rubles, would force companies to integrate into a consortium or create a single infrastructure operator, business daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday, referring to state-controlled operator Rostelecom.

Andrei Zimenkov, director of the sales channel management department at Rostelecom, voiced the amount of investments into deploying 5G networks at the Wireless Russia Forum, quoting estimates of The Boston Consulting Group. The sum is three–four times more than expenses on 4G, he said.

“In the climate of hindered access to capital and low paying capacity of clients, every operator will find it impossible to tackle this issue alone,” Zimenkov said, adding that the amount of the required investments would demand the creation of a consortium or a single infrastructure operator.

Unlike the previous 4G standard, 5G will compact the network by 30–50 times, and, as a result, mobile and landline networks will amalgamate, he said.

Half-controlled by Rostelecom, mobile operator T2 RTK Holding, known under the Tele2 brand, finds 5G promising. “In order to effectively develop 5G and optimize investments, operators will have to look for options to unite efforts,” T2 RTK Holding’s spokesman Konstantin Prokshin said.

Since requirements to the new standard have not been articulated yet, a shape of cooperation will become clearer later, Prokshin said.

Nikolai Lukashevich, senior director at Fitch Ratings in Russia and the CIS, said a single infrastructure operator to develop 5G could appear in the country. European operators are also discussing a similar idea, he said.

(56.5168 rubles – U.S. $1)

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