The network of sonnets is developing. Unfinished? Sonnet? Cellular operator voluntarily laid down his arms Cellular network sonnet

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Cellular network SONET- trademark Russian company“Personal Communications” (registered with the Moscow Registration Chamber on November 21, 1995), under which it provided mobile communication services in the IS-95 standard (CDMA technology) in the 800 MHz frequency range.

On August 17, 1998 JSC "Personal Communications" started its activity as a cellular operator. They specialized mainly in relatively inexpensive unlimited mobile communications. The general director was Mikhail Valeryevich Susov. The parent company is MTU-Inform (a subsidiary of AFK Sistema). The number of subscribers when the network was closed was about 100,000. Subscribers were provided with new telephone sets, as well as telephone numbers that changed during the transition.

The Company obtained licenses to provide radiotelephony services in Moscow and the Moscow region (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 17454), Vladimirskaya (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8956), Tverskaya (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8959), Yaroslavl (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8960) and Tula (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 9827) areas.

In 1998, a network was put into operation based on Qualcomm's network equipment. In conditions of rapid growth in the number of subscribers, there were problems with network bandwidth. In 1999 A decision was made to replace the existing network infrastructure. During 2000 SONET cellular network has made a full-scale replacement of the network infrastructure and installed the latest generation of network equipment manufactured by the world's leading supplier "Lucent Technologies". At the end of 2000 and the first quarter of 2001, networks were put into operation in the Vladimir, Tver, Yaroslavl and Tula regions.

From the very beginning, the company did not adhere to the standard division of the user audience by solvent, age, and other levels, but proceeded from the volume of customer needs for communication services. The SONET cellular network is the first operator to offer its users unlimited tariff plans for multi-speaking subscribers. In 2001, tariff plans with per-second billing were introduced, which are of interest to subscribers who use the phone for a small number of calls.

The operator's network closed in 2004. The reason was the refusal of the state. regulator in extending the license for the frequency range under the pretext of releasing the frequency in the region of 800 MHz for the development of digital television (at the moment - 2017 - frequencies are used for DVB-T2 digital television broadcasting in Moscow). For some time, the operator was a sponsor of the intellectual game "

Skylink, Chernozem Region Cellular Communications and Rostelecom:

SCH (Skylink) after the reorganization into Astarta CJSC, throughout Russia was sold with all the giblets of licenses (including for GSM) to Rostelecom. Rostelecom is building its UMTS networks in many regions of the Russian Federation and plans to become the fourth 3G+ operator in Moscow in December. Once the communications monopoly covers all areas from Anadyr to Kaliningrad, Skylink will be out of the game forever. Despite the fact that now we have Ev-Do Rev. conferences in Europe. C, which allows speeds up to 500 Mb/s. in both directions, Russia is unlikely to pull something like this in the next 5-10 years. Do not forget for how many years your Ministry of Communications has been allocating licenses, and if under Reiman there was at least some hope for the future of SkyLink, now it is gone. The operator's phones are outdated by 8-10 years, the flagship runs on Windows Mobile 6, for which there is practically no supported, modern application. Most likely, the IMT-MC 450 MHz standard will be used for telephony in remote areas where it is very difficult to lay a cable, devices like the Nexpring NP10T will be installed to connect handsets via RJ11 and possibly access the Internet at a speed of about 1 Mb / s .. This the best thing that can happen to the company, in the worst case, it will be abolished along with all obligations to former subscribers, perhaps even with all licenses, who actually need GSM. Returning back to the reorganization of SCH into Astarta, it is worth noting that this was a forced step by the company to continue providing communication services in Voronezh and the region, the old company would have been dragged through the courts by deceived SCH subscribers in Kursk, Belgorod, Orel and Tambov, who stayed with NMT Nutcrackers and positive balances, after May 30, 2005. After waiting for the promised 3 years, they moved to the courts, not regretting spending more than the positive balance on the balance sheet. By the way, the main role in this case was played by human stupidity, because the company, which barely covered Voronezh and hardly gained 10,000 subscribers, would hardly be able to compensate for anything.

Sonnet and Skylink:

Now about the Sonnet. It seems to me that Wikipedia has enough information for 9 years as a late operator. I can only add that the cellular operator Sonet, which appeared on August 17, 1998, at the height of the crisis, worked in the IS-95 standard. Despite the unique rates, beautiful numbers and modern handsets, the operator was constantly pursued by failures. The mere fact that its start fell on the crisis of 1998 is far from all the troubles. The operator chose the CDMA standard in the 800 MHz band (IS-95), as history has shown, not very well. At first, the company had to fight with the Ministry of Communications, trying to prove that this standard can be used not only for wireless fixed communications. Later, the so-called “2010 problem” arose: in April 2000, the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF) made a strategic decision regarding all cellular networks in the 800 MHz band (CDMA and AMPS / DAMPS standards). By 2010, digital television began operating in this range in Russia, so mobile operators had to abandon it. With the support of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy, Sonnet won a victory over the Ministry of Communications in courts. The courts found the requirement to work exclusively in a fixed mode illegal, and also protected the Sonnet from the "problem 2010". However, these victories remained on paper, because the main shareholder of the operator, AFK Sistema, or rather its former division Sistema Telecom, which included Sonnet, decided not to conflict with the Ministry of Communications. The fact that the Sonnet network would cease to exist became known already in May 2004. Previously, the shareholders of Sistema Telecom, a structure that included Sonet, recognized the development of a CDMA (IS-95) network as unpromising. New connections to Sonet ceased in September 2004, however, the operator's representatives assured that the network would continue to work until the last subscriber. However, in reality, it turned out that the Moscow network worked only until March of next year, despite the fact that it continued to serve about 40 thousand subscribers. March 27, 2005 was the last day of operation of the Sonnet cellular network. The next day, the operator's license expired, and with it, all handsets connected to this network fell silent. Subscribers were “driven away” to SkyLink, they had to change their polyphonic, color modern phones to Synertek S-200, Hyundai-Curitel HX-510B and Huawei ETS 388 nutcrackers, which, apart from calls, could not even write SMS, but if this bandura was hacked to PC, it was possible to access the Internet at a speed of 153 kb. / sec., which was 3G speed according to Skylink (of course, they were silent about EDGE). Beautiful numbers in the code +7-501, the subscribers were replaced with regular +7-901, also without asking.

Kodotel, Votek-Mobile and Tele2:

December 19, 1997 Closed Joint Stock Company "Kodotel" receives a license from the State Communications Committee for the CDMA IS-95 standard number 9070 to provide communication services. Kodotel becomes the pioneer of the first CDMA systems in Russia. Like Sonnet, Kodotel falls under the 2010 problem, but it is not going to give up. Of course, Kodotel does not have that kind of money to sue in Moscow and win like Sonet, but it becomes a popular operator in the Voronezh region and squeezes the maximum out of the network, issuing a city six-digit number to each subscriber, for connection on unlimited tariffs. As a gift, given unlimited Internet at low speed, which is quite good for Dial-up times. Also, Kodotel arranged generous promotions for subscribers, gave gold jewelry when buying a new phone, raffled off cars, etc. In the same distant times, in the city of Voronezh, there was another independent operator, Votek-Mobile, which has been operating since 1995 in the same frequency range (800 mhz), but in the AMPS standard. Votek-Mobile also waged its own war, hoping to extend the license for the range at least until 2010, but its attempts were unsuccessful. In 2003 - 2006, the Swedish operator Tele2 came to Russia, which hoped to conquer all of Russia with its cheap tariffs, buying up small regional operators, in Voronezh Tele2 bought Votek-Mobile, pocketing several tens of thousands of subscribers. By the way, Tele2 was counting on a fair game and thought that it would not be difficult to obtain a license in Moscow, after St. Petersburg, but that was not the case. Courts, raids and other delights of life, or rather existence in Russia, simply did not give them a chance, like many others. But let's get back to the Kodotel company, which still managed to get a license, or rather the right to life until 2010. "Kodotel" continued to develop and provided a high level of service for its subscribers, in fact, subscribers appreciated this in their favorite operator. After all, subscribers of small operators are very conservative and appreciate just the same little things that are inaccessible to a simple subscriber of the big three. On the eve of 2010, Kodotel makes the last push to save its own life - it participates in the competition for a GSM-1800 license and wins it. However, by this time, other operators were already working in the 3G standard, and the century switched from “voice” to “Internet”. Even a free connection to the network with a city number did not save Kodotel from inevitable death. In the spring of 2013, it was announced that Kodotel was buying Tele2. By the way, in the same spring, Tele2 bought VTB Bank, which mothballed the operator, until better times in the state in which it is. Of course, VTB squeaked something about how they would quickly get a license for Moscow, but quickly shut up.

Rostelecom and the Big Four:

While everyone was looking at the top three, in front of the very nose, a non-mobile operator was buying up small cellular networks, namely:

1. NSS, which provides its services in eight regions of the Volga region: Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Orenburg regions, the Republic of Mordovia, the Chuvash Republic and the Republic of Tatarstan.
2. Elaine-GSM operating in the Republic of Mari El.
3. Tambov-GSM, Tambov. and Tambov region.
4. Volgograd-GSM operating in the Volgograd region.
5. Utel operating in seven regions of the Urals: Perm Territory, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions), Khanty-Mansiysk, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Districts.
6. ETK, a GSM mobile operator in six regions of Siberia: the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republic of Khakassia, the Republic of Tyva, the Kemerovo Region, the Altai Territory and the Republic of Altai.
7. Baikalwestcom, a mobile operator of GSM and CDMA standards in the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia.
8. Akos, a mobile operator of the GSM-1800 standard in Primorsky Krai.
9. Dalsvyaz GSM operating in five regions of the Far East: the Amur Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Kamchatka Territory, the Magadan and Sakhalin Regions.

In the summer of 2013, all these networks ceased to exist under their brands, becoming Rostelecom. Right there in August 2013, Rostelecom launches its own 3G mobile network in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, and in December it is going to launch a cellular network in Moscow and the Moscow Region. In the style of Ostap Bender, Rostelecom may oust the same VimpelCom operating under the Beeline brand in the near future. Personally, it seems to me, and by the way I am rarely mistaken, that the purchase of the Tele2 operator by the state bank VTB is nothing more than a state scam. Who knows, he will understand, because VimpelCom wanted to buy Tele2 much more expensive than VTB, but the Swedes were threatened, saying that either so much or nothing. The Swedes, having finally understood “how business is done in Russia”, did not argue, exhaling with relief. After the launch of a cellular network in Moscow by Rostelecom, most likely Tele2 will be bought by him from VTB Bank, thus Rostelecom will be represented in almost all regions of Russia, with minimal tariffs to increase the subscriber base. Vimpelcom, closing the top three, will be fourth almost immediately, and fourth, as the practice of the cellular communications market in Russia shows, no one needs.

I remember when in the TV game “What? Where? When?" The smartest connoisseurs were given the “Golden SONET” (an ever-free telephone with the right to be inherited), many connoisseurs were envious. But even then, skeptics, looking at all this, grumbled "nothing lasts forever" and "wait and see." We lived, we saw: yes, nothing lasts forever, and “SONNET” is even more so.

On December 11, the Sistema Telecom company announced its intention to sell its stake in Personal Communications CJSC, which provides communication services under the SONET brand, in the near future. A decision was also made to stop the development of the infrastructure of the SONET network.

Answering questions from a Sotovik correspondent, Sistema Telecom President Alexander Goncharuk called SONET an “incomprehensible” project and said literally the following: we will sell SONET! I won't say who, it's not my secret. In the near future, as soon as we agree on the parameters of the transaction. I think it's a matter of months. This will be an amount equal to all the costs of building the network and no more, since we consider this project unpromising."

In itself, the announcement of the sale of SONET did not come as a surprise to analysts, but few expected that a decision would be made so soon.

The cellular network "SONET" began work in Moscow on August 1, 1998. SONET began to provide a new type of telephone service for those times - wireless subscriber access WLL (Wireless Local Loop), implemented on the basis of the latest digital technology with code division of CDMA channels. Having started its development from remote areas of the capital, the network rapidly expanded and by the end of 1999 covered the entire territory of Moscow and the nearest suburbs.

Already in September 1999, when MTU-Inform invested $17 million in the development of the fixed subscriber radio access (CDMA) network SONET, Alexander Goncharuk said that the company did not have a license for mobile communication complicates the cost recovery process.

Then, two years ago, Sistema Telecom, together with MTU-Inform, studied options for getting out of this situation. Apparently, the process was "accelerated" by the German shareholders of Sistema-Telecom.

Alexander Goncharuk himself admitted that the company wanted to get rid of SONET for a long time: limited development was to end in a sale, although, in general, CDMA technology is promising and its development is being started, for example, by MCC and Delta-Telecom.

With all the "prospects" of CDMA, the fate of "SONET" may befall other operators providing fixed subscriber radio access. According to Gazeta.Ru, Sistema-Telecom in the future may also get rid of another "unpromising" cellular enterprise - the Moscow Cellular Communications company, which provides services in the outdated analog NMT-450 standard.

The Sonnet network is developing

Petr Chachin

Joint Stock Company “Personal Communications” is expanding the range of wireless subscriber access services in Moscow and the Moscow region, implemented on the basis of digital technology with code division of CDMA channels. “Sonet Cellular Network (this is a trademark of the Personal Communications Company) in addition to standard set communication services - the ability to conduct intrazonal, local, long-distance and international telephone conversations, use a fax and a modem with a guaranteed data transfer rate of 14.4 kbit / s - provides its customers Additional services such as call forwarding, call waiting and transfer, three-way communication and call barring,” said CEO this company Mikhail Susov at a press conference in Moscow.

Mikhail Susov, CEO

company "Personal Communications"

Fixed cellular communication provided by the Sonnet network also has a number of advantages compared to cellular communication other standards. First, CDMA technology is different efficient use radio spectrum and dozens of times greater specific subscriber capacity, which may have a positive impact on the tariff policy. Secondly, CDMA eliminates the possibility of unauthorized access and listening, and also provides better noise immunity. Thirdly, CDMA technology is characterized by a low radio transmitter power, which determines its relative safety for the human body. In addition, it is very important that Sonnet will use powerful transport and telephone network the founder of the company "Personal Communications" - the company "MTU-Inform".

The construction of the Sonet cellular network was launched primarily in remote areas of the capital, where the problem of telephony is particularly acute. Commercial operation began in August (see PC Week / RE, No. 36/98, p. 21). Now 14 base stations (BS) have been put into operation and about a thousand subscribers are being served. About 20 more BSs are at different stages of readiness, which will be able to serve a significant part of the city. It is expected that by the end of next year the network will cover the entire territory of Moscow and the nearest suburbs and will provide communications for about 40,000 subscribers.