Fiber roll outs to spur continued growth in Russian market says Pyramid Research

Investments in fiber-optic broadband networks, as well as additional infrastructure deployment in response to the government’s national broadband program, mean that fiber-based telecom spending in Russia should continue to grow, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.

Pyramid predicts that DSL it will lose its leading position in the broadband segment to fiber to the home (FTTH) and fiber to the building (FTTB), the market research firm asserts in the report, titled “Russia: Fiber Ambitions to Boost Telecom Market; LTE Rollouts Await Operator Consensus.” The report authors point to Rostelecom’s use of GPON technology as well as the FTTB programs of Beeline and ER-Telecom.

Another operator, MTS, provides an illuminating case study in such network upgrades, Pyramid says. The operator reported an increase of broadband download speeds last October in Rostov, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Kislovodsk, and Stavropol as a result of its network upgrades. All of the operator's fixed broadband subscribers in these areas are scheduled to be migrated to FTTB technology by the end of this year.

As a result of such activity, Ethernet and broadband wireless access providers will see their fortunes decline over the forecast period, according to the report. Heated competition and the growing number of operators involved in fiber rollouts are the main causes for this retreat. Pyramid expects the national broadband plan, currently under development, will provide even further stimulus for fiber-based broadband access networks. In all, Pyramid expects fiber will increase its share within the total fixed broadband market from 43% (10.0 million) in 2012 to 59% (20.9 million) in 2017.

“Russia: Fiber Ambitions to Boost Telecom Market; LTE Rollouts Await Operator Consensus” profiles the country's telecommunications, media, and technology sectors based on proprietary data. It provides a detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies. The report is part of Pyramid Research's Europe Intelligence Report Series and is priced at $990.

For more information on FTTx equipment and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.