Yakutia and MegaFon began cooperation within the Arctic Connect project

2021: Cooperation within the Arctic Connect project

The head of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) Aysen Nikolaev and the CEO "MegaFon" Gevork Vermishyan signed the agreement on cooperation within the project Arctic Connect which assumes construction fiber optic communication line Europe-Asia with branches on the territory RUSSIAN FEDERATION. On January 29, 2021 reported about it in the press center of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic century To Moscow. In the republic the company is going to construct branch to the settlement of Tiksi located on the coast of the Laptev Sea. Yakutia became the first Arctic region with which Megafon signed the agreement on cooperation on this project.

According to the agreement, MegaFon will develop digital infrastructure the republics and to expand a scope of localities of the region cellular communication and broadband access in internet based on mobile digital technologies of the UMTS standards, GSM and LTE. The agreement also assumes the joint work aimed at implementation and promoting of the innovation digital services and solutions. Government of Yakutia will give coordination and administrative support of the project.

"85% of all export volume of IT services of the Far East region fall to the share of the republic, 87.5% of its inhabitants have access to the high-speed Internet. However we understand all importance of elimination of digital inequality and providing localities with universal communication services in coastal regions where they are demanded at all not less, than in the cities", – the Head of the republic Aysen Nikolaev noted.

"Arctic Connect project task - not only in creation of the channel for transit of the increasing traffic volume between Europe and Asia, but also in providing northern territories of Russia with a high-quality communication. The Sakha (Yakutia) Republic has huge potential. Digital transformation of this region will give an impetus for growth of his economic wellbeing and development of the social sector", – the CEO of Megafon Gevork Vermishyan noted.

Development of telecommunication infrastructure in the Arctic zone is of exclusive importance for creation of comfortable conditions of accommodation for local population, ensuring national security of the country and social and economic development of polar regions.

Arctic Connect is the fiber optic communication line from Europe to Asia which will pass on a bottom of the Arctic Ocean along the Arctic coast of Russia. Start of Arctic Connect with capacity of 200 Tbits will help to cope with the growing volumes of global traffic. The branches constructed from a base line will allow to provide a high-quality communication to inhabitants of the Arctic and the Far East.