Last week a government commission “on digital development, the use of information technologies for improving the quality of life and the conditions of doing business” approved a 5G deployment roadmap for Russia.
“The transition to 5G technologies is one of the priorities to digitalize the Russian economy, since is provides the ground for quality growth in a variety of fields,” the TASS news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko as saying.
The roadmap insists on import substitution, a strategy that Russia has been pursuing more or less successfully as its relations with the West deteriorated over the past decade.
“We believe this [plan] will accelerate the Russian industry and contribute to its technological growth. Achieving the quality and competitiveness of domestic solutions with international counterparts is an ambitious objective, but it is realistic,” Chernyshenko was quoted as saying.
The implementation of the roadmap will be controlled by the Ministry of Digitalization. The main measures to introduce new equipment and deploy the 5G networks should be implemented between 2021 and 2024. By that time, 5G networks using domestic equipment are expected to be deployed in at least 10 cities of one million inhabitants or more.
According to earlier reports, the production of domestic 5G equipment will begin no later than 2023.
This roadmap was prepared by Rostec and Rostelecom, two major state-controlled corporations. According to the draft released this past September, the cost of Russia’s 5G development plan until 2024 amounts to some $2.6 billion.
