State-backed telecoms giant Rostelecom has announced that it has launched its second commercial HSPA+ network in Primorsky Krai, through its AKOS subsidiary. More than 140 3G/3G+ base stations have been deployed, covering more than 55% of the region’s population, including the municipalities of Vladivostok, Artyom, Ussuriysk, Nakhodka and Arsenyev. Towns set for future coverage include: Spassk-Dalny, Bolshoy Kamen, Partizansk, Lesozavodsk, Slavyanka Dalnegorsk, Fokino, Anuchino, Mikhaylovka and Chuguevka. Within two days of the network’s launch, Rostelecom confirmed that internet traffic across its networks in the region doubled.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database Rostelecom is in the process of rolling out 3G networks in 27 Russian regions, with vendors Ericsson and Huawei deploying a total of 8,000 base stations in the company’s target markets. In November 2012 Rostelecom subsidiary Baikalwestcom (BWC) inaugurated the group’s first 3G network in the Irkutsk Oblast. Rostelecom and its numerous regional subsidiaries claimed a 2G subscriber base of around 13.56 million at the end of December 2012.