Russia, covering over 17 million square kilometres, is the world's largest country by land area, spanning eleven time zones and diverse geographical features from tundra to subtropical beaches. Its vast territory poses unique challenges for telecommunications and technology development, with its population of 143 million unevenly distributed, largely clustered in the western regions. The Siberian region, with its harsh climate and sparse population, has been a challenging area for infrastructure development. As a result, Russia has had to innovate, planning the world's longest fibre-optic network, the ERMC - interconnecting Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China. In terms of renewable energy, Russia has significant potential, particularly in hydropower, however, the sector is still developing due to the country's reliance on fossil fuels. The technology sector, while growing, is hindered by factors such as regulatory challenges, international sanctions, and limited access to capital. Despite this, Russia has seen success in certain technology fields like space technology and IT, driven by a highly educated workforce.
Mobile Network Operators
The are 4 companies operating mobile networks in this region.
Beeline, known in Russian as Билайн, is a telecommunications brand operating in Russia and is owned by the company PJSC VimpelCom. The brand was initially launched as Bee Line GSM, with its inception dating back to the late 1993. In 2005, VimpelCom revamped the Beeline brand, introducing its characteristic black-and-yellow striped circle. VimpelCom, Beeline's parent company, is Russia's third-largest wireless and second-largest telecommunications operator, headquartered in Moscow. Since 2009, PJSC VimpelCom has been a subsidiary of VimpelCom Ltd., which was later renamed as Veon in 2017.
Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (“MTS” - NYSE:MBT; MOEX:MTSS) (Мобильные ТелеСистемы) is the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe. MTS was founded by Moscow City Telephone Network, Deutsсhe Telekom, Siemens AG, and several other shareholders in October 1993. MTS began providing its first GSM based services in mid 1994. While the company is consistently evolving its ownership structure, the majority controlling entity remains as Sistema, a large Russian conglomerate.
The company's branding, including its logo is typically shown as MTS (Mobile TeleSystems) for the latin...
Tele2 Russia is a telecommunications company that has been operating in Russia since 2003. Originally founded by Swedish Tele2, it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Rostelecom as of 2020. The company's operations began in Russia in the early 2000s, with Tele2 providing services in 12 regions within its first two years. In 2013, the Swedish group Tele2 sold its Russian subsidiary to the VTB Group, which later sold 50% of Tele2 Russia shares to a consortium of private investors and 5% to Sogaz insurance group.
In 2014, Rostelecom and Tele2 Russia integrated their mobile assets into a joint...