Rostelecom buys base stations from Chinese Hytes to eliminate digital inequality in Russia

In September 2023, the developer of telecommunications equipment Bulat (51% from Rostelecom) declared the import into Russia of base communication stations issued by the Chinese company Hytes Communications.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the Unified Register of Certificates of Conformity and Declarations of Conformity, equipment with a BS-1800HWSW index was imported. Judging by the data of the Unified Register of Notifications on the Characteristics of Encryption Tools and Goods, the notification for the import into the EAEU of the Bulat base station of the model BS-1800HWSW issued on July 13, 2023.

Rostelecom structure orders base stations in China

Based on the information from the register of sanitary and epidemiological conclusions for the project documentation (it is maintained by Rospotrebnadzor), in the period from May to September, the department issued 512 sanitary and epidemiological conclusions for the placement of transmitting radio engineering facilities owned by Rostelecom. In the column "Technical characteristics of transmitting equipment" the same BS-1800HWSW is indicated.

According to the publication, the conclusions were issued for the installation of equipment in villages and villages. "Rostelecom" is the operator of the state program to eliminate digital inequality

Kommersant recalls that after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the emergence of restrictions that complicated the purchase and support of equipment from Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia, Russian telecom operators began to test base stations of Chinese third-tier manufacturers.

According to the source of the newspaper, "Bulat" "studies the available solutions and assesses the possibility of a Chinese partner."

This can be considered as a stage of preparation for the localization of production in the Russian Federation, the source said, adding that the use of Chinese equipment in the long term "creates risks of dependence."

Another source of the publication believes that Bulat intends to produce equipment developed in the Russian Federation in China.^[1]

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