Russian telecoms suffering from sanctions

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 26 Apr 2022 by Alex Teddy

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Russian mobile phone networks are suffering from their heavy dependence on Western components. Maintenance and upgrades are increasingly problematic. Russia buys parts from Nokia and Ericsson as well as Chinese providers Huawei and ZTE for wireless network hardware and software. Nokia and Ericsson no longer sell to Russia. These two companies sold up to 50% of Russia's wifi equipment. Huawei has also suspended operations in Russia.There is a possibility that the mobile network will start to seriously malfunction. Nokia and Ericsson will only service equipment where there is a humanitarian reason to do so. But they will not provide upgrades. Western governments do not necessarily want Russia cut off from the internet. They consider the free flow of information will undercut Putin's war narrative. MTS is a Russian wifi provider and had hoped to roll out 5G in 2022. But this ultra fast service is not going to happen for the foreseeable future. Nokia had a joint venture with Yadro (a Russian data storage developer) to make 4G and 5G telecoms bases stations. The rumor is this has been cancelled. It is likely that Russia is going to fall behind in telecoms. Russia had hoped to make internet coverage more widely available. That is not unlikely. The Kremlin might even consider more internet and mobile coverage bad as it wants to control information. Moreover, Russia is angry with Finland and Sweden for flirting with NATO. Therefore, Russia wants Finland and Sweden to miss out on the Russian market. Huawei sold 300% more handsets in the first two weeks of March 2022 than it did in the same time in 2023. But Huawei stopped operations in Russia. It feared severe Western sanctions...