Experts announced a decrease in the speed of mobile Internet in Russia
TelecomDaily: mobile Internet speed in Russia decreased by seven percent
The speed of mobile Internet in the regions of Russia, with the exception of Moscow, in February of this year, compared to the same period last year, decreased by an average of 7 percent – to 18.3 megabits per second, Izvestia writes, citing a TelecomDaily report .
According to the authors of the study, the calculations are based on the results of “tens of thousands of measurements” carried out by customers of the Megabitus service, the company’s proprietary application. At the same time, access in the capital accelerated by 32 percent to 34.7 megabits per second, the report says.
TelecomDaily connects this dynamics with the shortage of network equipment, the supply of which to Russia ceased last spring, and also with the fact that operators tend to install new base stations primarily in large cities.
“It is there that the greatest demand for their services is. In addition, any communication difficulties in Moscow or St. Petersburg can become a source of serious image problems for the operator. And, on the contrary, no one will notice if the speed drops by 20-30 percent in a remote regional center” , Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily, explained.
In turn, representatives of mobile operators claim that the speed of mobile Internet in 2022 – early 2023 did not decrease or even grew.
According to Kuskov, if we compare the indicators in Moscow and throughout Russia without dividing them, then there really is no drop — but if we consider the capital and other regions separately, it turns out that with an increase in speed in the largest city outside it, it decreases.
A source familiar with the managers of several organizations explained that the problem of reducing the speed of Internet access is relevant not only for Russian operators – most companies around the world face it, and in Russia the situation is aggravated by the lack of equipment supplies.
According to him, in terms of building new networks, signalmen do not keep up with the growth in traffic consumption. The problem could be solved by allocating new frequencies and expanding the fleet of base stations, but this is impossible without additional investment, which will be accompanied by an increase in tariffs, the interlocutor noted, adding that the state is unlikely to allow an increase in prices for mobile communications.
