The operability of the communication line connecting Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Anadyr has been fully restored

2024: Restoration of the communication line connecting Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Anadyr

The operability of the communication line connecting Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Anadyr has been fully restored. The main cause of the damage is considered a mechanical violation of the cable integrity during the extraction of biological resources in the protected area of ​ ​ the communication line. Rostelecom announced this on August 26, 2024.

source = Rostelecom

Repair work was carried out by Bulat (a subsidiary of PJSC Rostelecom), which is the Competence Center for Servicing Offshore Underwater Communication Lines for Rostelecom, and took 9 days. During the work, a repair insert of an optical cable 700 meters long was installed, as well as three specialized couplings.

As of August 2024, together with Rostelecom specialists, a two-stage testing of the line integrity was carried out. The line is operating normally.

The work was carried out in difficult climatic conditions - wind gusts reached 23 m/s, and the wave height was 6 m, and therefore the work had to be suspended. The situation was also complicated due to the location of the damaged cable: at a distance of 454 km from Anadyr and a depth of about 170 meters. To restore the communication lines, a cable machine and a cable winch with an increased supply of cable were specially designed and manufactured at Russian enterprises. In addition, special rods were made of powder metal for grapnel, a tool that cuts a cable at the bottom of the sea, said Sergei Sergeyev, director of the advanced projects department of BULAT LLC.

Prior to the main stage of installation at the end of July 2024, a preliminary control and measurement analysis was carried out in order to clarify the place of damage and determine the necessary reserve of the repair cable. The damage itself was allegedly caused by a fish or crab boat. The gear found at the site, as well as cable sections, were transferred to PJSC Rostelecom for further examination and taking measures in relation to potential violators of the rules for protecting communication facilities.

2022: Completion of PVOLS construction

Rostelecom on December 15, 2022 announced the completion of the construction of an underwater fiber-optic communication line (PVOLS) Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Anadyr, laid in the coastal water area of ​ ​ the Bering Sea. This communication line will significantly increase the level of penetration of digital services in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, as well as the reliability and quality of the provision of a whole range of information services and technologies, including telemedicine and distance education.

The link capacity is 100 Gbps, expandable to 8 Tbit/s. The actual total length of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky-Anadyr-Ugolnye Kopi PVOLS (the "satellite settlement" of Anadyr, located on the opposite bank of the Anadyr estuary) was 2,173 km.

The construction of PVOLS in Chukotka was carried out within the framework of the federal project "Information Infrastructure" of the national program "Digital Economy of Russia." For these purposes, 7,359,6 million rubles were allocated from the federal budget to Rostelecom. This is one of the largest and most complex regional projects of the national program. Among the objective difficulties are the difficult climatic conditions caused by the geographical location of the region. So, for example, work on laying and deepening the cable (the depth of laying reaches 6,000 meters) could be carried out only in the warm season, for a short period of navigation.

For December 2022, in Anadyr and Coal Mines, Rostelecom is preparing to launch optical networks using GPON technology. This is a technology in which the cable is wound directly into the subscriber's apartment, which guarantees a stable information transfer rate and allows you to connect several devices at once.

The active development of the Arctic zone is impossible without its digitalization. Before the construction of the optical communication line, Chukotka remained the only subject of the Russian Federation where communication services were provided only using a satellite resource. Now residents will be able to fully use information technology and services. PVOLS also opens up opportunities that will give a powerful impetus to the digital transformation program of the region, "said Sergey Ivanov, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport.

We can say that technological sovereignty in the field of high-speed Internet has been achieved. Since earlier, due to the remoteness of the region, communication services were provided using a satellite resource, the data transfer rate was limited, weather conditions influenced the quality. Now in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, a reliable high-speed optical communication channel and fast Internet have appeared. Of course, the satellite channel will remain. But now for all people living here, absolutely equal access to all government services and services provided on the Internet is provided. This just fulfills the task of eliminating digital inequality set by the President of Russia. We have finally resolved the issue, and all the territories of our country are connected to high-speed Internet, "said Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

Chukotka is the only Russian region that until recently went online via satellite. Since satellite communication is quite expensive, the tariffs of operators in the region used to be three times higher than the average for the Far Eastern Federal District. This issue was resolved at the expense of state subsidies, which reduce the price of communication services. And you can achieve high Internet speed and a good signal only by switching to a fiber optic line. The construction of the submarine line has been completed, and operators can connect to it. Subscribers will notice this by a stable connection and inexpensive tariffs, which will no longer require state support, - commented the head of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev.

With the arrival of a deep-sea optical cable in Anadyr and Ugolny Kopi, full-scale digitalization of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the development of information and telecommunication infrastructure for the provision of high-quality telecommunications services will become possible. It should be noted that already at the first stage, broadband Internet will be available to 30% of Chukotka residents. The released satellite resource will be distributed between the settlements of the district, - said the governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Roman Kopin.

The situation in the world in 2022 showed how important reliable high-speed communication is and the indispensable digital services. This underwater fiber-optic communication line Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Anadyr will increase the availability of modern information services for the population, business and the state, "said Mikhail Oseevsky, President of Rostelecom. - The completion of the construction of an underwater communication line in the easternmost region of the country allows solving the issue of the shortage of modern communication services and, in addition, will give an additional impetus for the economic and social development of Chukotka.