TELECOMS MARKET

Russian telcos are deploying and upgrading both fixed-line network infrastructure and broadband services, as well as a range of IP-delivered content. The government is investing heavily in a nationwide telecom network which will provide broadband services to thousands of underserved villages.

Russia has also emerged as one of Europe’s fastest growing markets for fibre-based broadband, with about two-thirds of Rostelecom’s fixed-line broadband subscribers being on its fibre infrastructure by late 2018. The country also has the largest mobile market in EuropeSeveral mobile network operators are active, although the market is dominated by four major operators. The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media is responsible for giving and renewing licenses to producers involved in information technology, telecommunications, publishing or electronic media.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a centrally planned economy towards a more market-based system. Both economic growth and reform have stalled in recent years, however, and Russia remains a predominantly statist economy with a high concentration of wealth in officials’ hands. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy, transportation, banking, and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak, and the state continues to interfere in the free operation of the private sector.

A combination of falling oil prices, international sanctions, and structural limitations pushed Russia into a deep recession in 2015. The downturn continued through 2016, but it was reversed in 2017 as world demand picked up. Government support for import substitution has increased recently in an effort to diversify the economy away from extractive industries.

RELEVANT INTERNET EXCHANGE POINTS

• MSK-IX – Moscow Internet Exchange