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Mobile phone service in Russia may return to 1990s levels

21. 12. 2022 Wednesday / By: Robert Denes / Industrial / Exact time: BST / Print this page

W hen telecom equipment manufacturers Nokia and Ericsson leave Russia at the end of the year due to European sanctions against the country, it could gradually cripple Russian mobile networks in the long term. The resulting difficulties set mobile telephony in Russia back 30 years ago.

According to experts, when the two telecommunications giants leave the Russian market, users will have to expect slower data downloads and uploads, as well as increasingly frequent missed calls. This is due to the fact that the operators cannot update and improve the software and there will be a shortage of spare parts, reports Reuters.

Ericsson and Nokia, which have nearly 50 percent. Russia's share of base stations produces everything needed for cellular communications, from telecommunications antennas to equipment that connects optical fibers carrying digital signals. They also provide the key software that enables the different elements of the network to work together.

Carl Mellander, Ericsson's financial director, said: "We will operate until the end of the year, at which time all immunity from sanctions will expire." Ericsson has received immunity from sanctions from the Swedish authorities.

Russia's economy has so far coped well with the sanctions imposed by Western governments after Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, Reuters notes. He adds, however, that the withdrawal of Nokia and Ericsson could have a serious impact on everyday life in the country, making even simple telephone calls difficult.

Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark said: "Our exit will be complete. We will not supply anything to Russia." This company will withdraw from the Russian market at the end of the year.

The Russians want to rely on self-made equipment. However, according to experts, the interruption of deliveries by foreign companies could set Russian telecommunications back a generation as the rest of the world consistently adopts 5G technology.

"If this situation continues for years, the coverage of Russian mobile networks may return to the state of the late 1990s, when their coverage was limited to large cities and the richest suburbs," said Leonid Konik, editor-in-chief of comnews.ru.


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