Crimean epic "AYR TELECOM"

"AYR Telecom" obtained the licenses allowing to work in the Crimea and Sevastopol


The second for number of subscribers the Russian Internet service provider "AYR TELECOM" obtained the licenses allowing to work in the Crimea and Sevastopol. His competitors there prepare for an exit also.

Roskomnadzor "AYR Telecom" granted on May 15 six licenses – on a cable broadcasting, local telecommunication, granting communication channels and other services. It follows from the register which conducts department. Licenses are necessary "AYR Telecom" to serve federal corporate clients in the Crimea, the representative of the company told. The operator started working with such clients in 2013, he reminded and specified: the company has no plans to serve the population of the Crimea and Sevastopol. "AYR Telecom" does not gather neither to build own network in the Crimea, nor to prolong there the main channel, the general director "AYR Telecom of holding" Andrey Semerikov added to it. What investments the company will enclose in the Crimea and what corporate clients it is going to serve there, it did not begin to speak. It is not excluded that "AYR Telecom" will use networks of the operators who are already working at the peninsula, Semerikov noticed.

According to TelecomDaily, at the end of the I quarter 2014 "AYR Telecom" took a place, the 2nd after "Rostelecom", in top-5 the largest operators of broadband Internet access (ShPD) in Russia, serving 2,76 million subscribers. In a segment of paid TV it was the fourth (2,6 million users). According to "AYR Telecom", its proceeds from service of corporate subscribers in 2013 made 2,5 billion rubles, or 12% of total income. The operator served about 70 000 companies and the organizations.

In total 5635 licenses allowing the Russian operators to work in Sevastopol and to the Crimea are entered in the register of Roskomnadzor. The most part from them was given out even before accession of the peninsula to Russia in March, 2014 and gives the work permit on all territory of the country. According to these federal licenses of the company can work and in the Crimea; the truth, the companies using radio frequencies have to receive still frequency assignments in Roskomnadzor, the representative of supervising department Vadim Ampelonsky speaks.

The source close to "AYR Telecom", did not exclude that the operator will agree about use of the infrastructure belonging to "Rostelecom". "Daughter" of "Rostelecom" "Miranda media" who for 30 mln. dollars bought up about 2000 km of networks at local operators works at the peninsula. According to the source, close to "Rostelecom", "AYR Telecom" did not address to "Miranda" yet. But "Miranda" is ready to provide infrastructure to competitors, the representative of "Rostelecom" Valery Kostarev told. At the first stage of work in the Crimea "daughter" of the operator will provide services to state structures and to corporate users under the brand, further is planned to render services of Internet access, paid TV and a telephony to ordinary subscribers, Kostarev added.

By iKS-Consulting estimates, the market of telecommunications of the Crimea and Sevastopol grew in 2013 more than by 15% to 0,4 bln. dollars. More than 73% of this sum were the share of mobile communication, 11% – of wire ShPD, 8% – of paid TV, 7% – of the fixed telephony and 1% – on wireless ShPD.

Corporate subscribers in the Crimea it is a little, generally it the enterprise of a services sector, the general director of TelecomDaily Denis Kuskov considers. In Russia levels of penetration of ShPD and paid TV – 52 and 62% respectively, in the Crimea these indicators are much lower, he reminds. Construction of networks of a fixed telephony in the Crimea is complicated by features of local building – generally low and leaky, Kuskov adds.

"Transtelekom" (TTK) has the federal license which grants to it the right to work including in the Crimea and Sevastopol, the representative Tatyana Semenova tells it. TTK is interested to develop business in the Crimea and studies possibility of construction of networks along the local railroads; such project can take not less than a year and will demand about 1 billion rubles, she predicts.

Valery Kodachigov
Sheets
 No. 94 of 28.05.14