Mega deal: Russian Post will purchase communications services worth 13.5 billion rubles from Rostelecom

2021: Russian Post will purchase communications services worth 13.5 billion rubles from Rostelecom

On August 12, 2021, it became known that Russian Post would purchase communications services worth 13.5 billion rubles from Rostelecom. The scale of the contract is unique for the Russian ICT market, since we are talking about the introduction of services in the corporate data network, which unites 40,000 objects (post offices, logistics and sorting centers, warehouses, as well as data centers) in all regions of the Russian Federation, the Russian Post said.

According to the terms of the contract, within five years Rostelecom should increase the data transfer rate in a single network from 200 Gbit/s to 500 Gbit/s, and within three years - increase from 60% to 70% the share of mail objects connected to the corporate data transmission network over fiber optic communication. The company added that the allowable break time in the provision of communication services will also significantly decrease.

Russian Post will purchase communications services worth 13.5 billion rubles from Rostelecom

Our contract with Rostelecom is unique, because it is a single contract for all postal facilities, in which the requirements for the quality of communication services are standardized. Thanks to this, we will get an equally high quality connection at facilities of the same type - in departments, logistics centers or data centers - depending on their geographical location, "said Vladimir Savkin, Deputy General Director for Information Technology and the Development of Digital Services of Russian Post.

Rostelecom and Russian Post have other joint projects. Among them are contracts for local zone communication services and intelligent telephone numbers for the customer support service of the Russian Post in the Telecommunication Service Access Code (KDU) 800, valid by August 2021.

Earlier, thanks to cooperation with Rostelecom, Russian Post centralized more than 900 contracts with regional telecom operators in one. Rostelecom has built about 3,000 new communication channels for branches located in inaccessible settlements and new Post facilities - such as logistics centers.

2015: Rostelecom will provide communication services for Russian Post

In November 2015, Russian Post selected Rostelecom as the winner of the tender for the provision of comprehensive communication services for five years for branches throughout the country^[1]. The contract will be concluded after receiving the approval of the Ministry of Communications. The purchase amount is 10 billion rubles.

As part of the contract, the Post intends to quadruple the network capacity in all branches in three years, as well as increase the number of post offices connected to dedicated communication channels.

So far, several operators have provided communication services for the Post. "There is a centralized contract with Rostelecom, as well as dozens of regional contracts at the level of Russian Post branches with various operators," its representative told TAdviser. Annually, according to him, the company spends about 2 billion rubles on communications.

The winner of the new competition, in addition to access to the Internet, postal communication facilities will have to provide communication between Russian Post facilities using IP MPLS technology with guaranteed quality of service. This will allow to centralize and unify communication between the logistics facilities of the Russian Post and all post offices connected to the corporate network. This will make it possible to introduce modern IT services of the Russian Post online and monitor them from a single corporate center, as well as significantly increase the speed and quality of service provision to Russian Post customers, "says a representative of the enterprise.

Rostelecom will provide communication services for Russian Post

As of November 2015, the number of communication channels to Post facilities (post offices, logistics centers, office premises) is 39227. As part of the project, it is planned to increase them to 41,000.

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