On Thursday, 26 February, more than 200 delegates from 100 ICT companies arrived in St. Petersburg to participate in the Business Forum “Telecom of Two Capitals 2015. Effective ways to improve competitiveness in big cities”. This Forum was held for the second time, and it has become the main ICT market public event of the biggest Russian cities.
The general partner of the Forum was the MegaFon company, the platinum sponsors of the event – VAS Experts and IT-Grad Group of Companies, the gold sponsors were the companies Eltex and Module, the silver sponsors – the companies Oracle and LifeStream; the latter provided the modern cloud-based TV service “СмотрЁшка” (Smotreshka). Russian Broadcasting and Alert Networks (RSVO) supported the Forum as a partner. The lunch was sponsored by RDP.RU. The event was held with the participation of the T8 and the Verimatrix company.
The information support of the forum was provided by the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), the Non-Profit Organization "The National Association of House Communications and Information Networks", the Association of Strategic Outsourcing “ASTRA”, the Bonch Bruevich Saint-Petersburg State University of Telecommunications, the Wireless Data Transfer Network Market Participants Association, the Russian Information Systems Security Professional Association, the International Telecommunications Academy (ITA), the Association of Regional Telecom Operators (ARTO), and also more than 40 branch information resources.
Chairman of the Committee on IT and Communications of St. Petersburg Ivan Gromilov addressed the participants of the Forum and emphasized, “The Committee welcomes the development of the telecommunications market, and it is ready to do everything in its power to speed up the strategically important ICT process, including the electronic interaction between citizens and the state”. He called upon the Forum’s participants to remember the social function of the telecom and its importance in developing the information society in Russia.
Head of Roskomnadzor Office for the Northwestern Federal District Dmitry Sakharov made a speech and highlighted how important it was to coordinate the commercial interests of market players and the needs of citizens and the state. He was certain that the Forum “Telecom of Two Capitals” would ensure an engaging dialogue and facilitate the balance of commercial and social component in the creation of the modern communications space.
“Telecom of Two Capitals 2015” showed specific examples and details to demonstrate how the operators of the largest Russian cities – Moscow and St. Petersburg – as well as their suppliers and partners meet the new challenges, focusing on the market and raising the productivity of work.
One of the heated debate topics on the Forum was the issue of transferring the city aerial lines of communication to underground cable channels. Director General of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise RSVO Vyachesav Ivanyuk claimed, “The current situation with aerial cable constructions in Moscow is dangerous for people, that is why it is expedient and relevant to regulate the construction and operation of the aerial cables. The transfer of communication lines laid aerially under the ground on the territory of Moscow will lead to immense financial expenses, which are to be reimbursed from the city budget funds. The aerial lines of communication must be rebuilt, relying on the rules and norms and considering the outcomes of the network inventory. The adjustments must be made on the municipal level and based on the approved methodology. In addition, the resources of the wired radio networks built in complete accordance with the operating rules and norms can be used to regulate the laying of aerial communication lines.”
Director of the Northwest Branch of OJSC “MegaFon” Aleksei Semyonov noted that the ICT technologies in the Russian cities have a high level of development, even in comparison with the most progressive markets. In particular, according to his data, more than 10% of all St. Petersburg and Moscow subscribers use 4G, which is two times more than in the world in general.
“The Russian communications branch is creating networks and services, which often excel the foreign analogues, and even in the hard times of the financial crisis it continues to be the most competitive and available for the consumer,” stated Aleksei Semyonov.
Deputy Technical Director of Northwest Macroregional Division of OJSC “Rostelecom” Aleksei Nikitin offered the audience a plan of market transformation which involves the change of the enterprise’s paradigm to a flexible service model. Adviser to the Director General for Relations with Government Agencies in OJSC “MGTS” Natalya Abramova talked about the opportunities provided by the modern communication networks of a big city, developing cloud services for citizens, social institutions, municipal services and enterprises. Director of Strategic Development of St. Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise "Automatic Telephone Exchange Smolny" Sergey Eltsov presented the possibility of joint use of system “112” infrastructure by the Russian federal subjects; this system was created and tested in St. Petersburg.
Import substitution as a key factor of the Russian ICT development appeared to be one of the main topics of the II Business Forum “Telecom of Two Capitals”. The representatives of the companies IT-Grad, Module, Eltex, LifeStream (the Smotreshka brand), RDP.RU, T8, Verimatrix, Oracle and others presented reports and paid particular attention to the opportunities of Russian manufacturers and local industries.
More than 40 leading experts of the ICT industry shared their experience with the participants of the Forum.
In particular, the subject of market challenges, top priority tasks and achievements of ICT companies in the Crimea was covered by the Forum’s special guest – Director General of the SevStar Company Konstantin Kokush.
The key topics of the “Telecom of Two Capitals” included the development of “clever city” ICT projects in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the contribution made by operators to innovative development of the city infrastructure, the effectiveness of communications providers in the new economic conditions, the optimization of telecom infrastructure, and the effective ways of raising the profitability of operators’ work.
