But it comes at a cost
Resource «Kommersant» reports that Russian mobile operators continue to update their equipment, despite the sanctions.
At the end of last year, companies imported 15% more base stations and their components to Russia than a year earlier. At the same time, in monetary terms, imports increased one and a half times, to $205 million. The problem is that due to the lack of long-term contracts and retail purchases, equipment for operators is more expensive. As a result, when compared with 2021, equipment supplies are still more than half as low.
Market participants clarify that the goal of 2024 will not be to expand the network, but to increase capacity, for which it is necessary to intensify the supply of components. But the easing of supply problems, Kommersant sources say, threatens import substitution, since the “fever for buying Russian has disappeared.”