Rostelecom began purchasing Russian WiFi routers for 2.7 billion rubles

Rostelecom began purchasing Russian WiFi routers manufactured by Electra. The contract value is 2.7 billion rubles. The supply agreement was signed on October 12, 2023.

According to Vedomosti, citing representatives of the companies, the contract provides for the shipment of WiFi equipment with support for FTTB and GPON technologies. FTTB (Fiber to the Building) is a fiber optic cable that goes to the building and a device that receives a signal in the building, and GPON is a network that reaches directly to the subscriber. The cost of the project for the development and implementation of 350,000 FTTB CPE routers is 1.1 billion rubles, and 450,000 GPON ONT routers - 1.6 billion rubles, specified in the manufacturer's presentation, which the newspaper refers to.

Rostelecom buys domestic routers from Electra

Rostelecom will receive the first ordered Wi-Fi 5 routers in November 2023. In May 2024, deliveries of devices with support for the Wi-Fi 6 standard are scheduled, and by the end of 2024, the mass introduction of the technology by Rostelecom should begin.

Subscribers of the state operator will be able to use WiFi devices in an apartment or at home. In total, under a two-year contract, we plan to supply more than 800 thousand routers, - Natalya Shcheglova, general director of Electra, told Vedomosti.

Electra expects to gradually increase production to about 1 million devices per year, Shcheglova noted. The company will switch to more productive modern chipsets with WiFi6 support with a constant increase in subscriber devices within one apartment or house, she added.

According to the newspaper in Rostelecom, the cost of terminal subscriber equipment from Electra is no more than 10% higher than that of similar imported samples, "although at first it could be + 40^[1]