Editing Telecommunications in Russia (section)

==Landline telephony==
{{see also|Telephone numbers in Russia}}
[[File:Moscow-MGTS-booth.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Telephone booth]] of [[Moscow City Telephone Network]]]]

'''Telephones – main lines in use:''' 32.277&nbsp;million (2016)

'''Telephones – mobile cellular:''' 229.126&nbsp;million (2016)

The telephone system employs an extensive system of modern network elements such as digital [[telephone exchange]]s, [[mobile switching centre]]s, [[media gateway]]s and [[signalling gateway]]s at the core, interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems using [[fibre-optics]] or [[Microwave transmission|Microwave radio relay]] networks. The [[access network]], which connects the subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fibre and wireless technologies.; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas. In the rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density.

The [[Russian Empire|Tsarist government of Russia]] issued its first decree on the development of urban telephone networks in 1881 and the first telephone exchanges in the Empire opened the following year.<ref>Vyshnevsky, p. 16; and Psurtsev, Ch. 1 and pp. 179ff.</ref> Initially, telephone exchanges were granted to private developers as concessions in the major cities, but in 1884 the government began to construct the first of its own exchanges and subsequently suspended the award of new concessions. Intercity telephone communications grew very slowly, with only a dozen lines in place by the start of the 20th century, most serving [[Moscow]]-[[Saint Petersburg]] traffic. After 1900, when the initial concessions had expired, the government eased control over private concessionaires and a burst of new construction took place. Included in the expansion during this period was the slow growth of exchanges built and operated by rural ''[[Zemstva]]'', which were treated essentially as private concessionaires by the [[Russian Empire|Imperial government]].

Telephones played a significant role during the upheavals of 1917. In February, according to the last tsarist Chief of Police, 'neither the military authorities nor the mutineers thought of occupying the Telephone Exchange'; consequently it continued to function, serving both sides, until the operators finally left their
positions amidst the growing confusion.<ref>Aleksei T. Vassileyev, The Okhrana, the Russian Secret Police (Philadelphia, 1930), p. 220.</ref> In early July, however, the Provisional Government, fearing a Bolshevik coup, reportedly ordered the central telephone exchange to boycott calls requested by Bolsheviks (automatic switching systems had not yet been introduced).

In 1918, when the Soviet government moved to Moscow and war conditions were producing extreme shortages, [[Sovnarkom]] ordered a reduction of 50% in the volume of telephone communications in the new capital, to ensure that official needs of the new government would be served. The primary consequence of this decree for individuals was the 'communalisation' of telephones in private houses and flats. According to the decree, restrictions were focused on the 'parasitic stratum' of society, in the interest of the 'working population'. With the exception of personal phones belonging to high government officials, doctors and midwives, telephones in private flats were placed at the disposal of 'house committees', to be made available for 'general use' free of charge. Houses without telephones were entitled to free use of the communal phone of a neighbouring house; the decree further ordered the immediate installation of at least 150 telephones in public squares, particularly in outlying regions.<ref>Sovnarkom decree, 11 July 1918, 'On the Use of the Moscow City Telephone Exchange', signed by Lenin (the text of all Sovnarkom decrees 1918-20 is taken from Dekrety Sovetskoi Vlasti)</ref>

One year later Sovnarkom [[nationalization|nationalized]] all telephone systems in the Russian Republic-including all intercity, urban, concessionary and zemstvo exchangesand assigned their administration and operation to the [[People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs of the RSFSR]]. Beginning with the nationalization of telephones in 1919, Soviet policy exhibited two main characteristics: telephones increasingly became instruments for the bureaucracy and bureaucrats, and telephones in general were accorded a low investment priority. In March 1920, for instance, government institutions were exempted from the telephone tariff, receiving the right to use the telephone without payment, albeit for sharply restricted periods.

Until the end of 1991 (the end of the USSR), the sole fixed-line telephone operator in the country was the [[Ministry of Communications of the USSR]]. The state possessed all telecommunications structure and access networks. In 1994, the investment communication company (OJSC “Sviazinvest”) was established by the [[Decree of the President of Russia|Presidential Decree]] No.1989 dated 10 October 1994 “''On the specific features of the state management of the electric communication network for public use in Russian Federation''”. The authorised capital of OJSC “Sviazinvest” was formed by the consolidation of federal shares of joint stock companies acting in the area of electric communications and established during the privatisation of the state enterprises for electric communications. The seven regional incumbents which make up Svyazinvest, majority-owned by the government, in early 2011 merged with the key subsidiary [[Rostelecom]]. The move created an integrated company based on [[Rostelecom]] which will be better placed to exploit economies of scale in coming years.<ref name="lteportal2011">{{cite web|url=http://www.lteportal.com/MediaChannel/Articles/LTE__LTE-Advanced;6/Market_Analysis;40/Research_and_Markets:_Russia_-_Telecoms,_IP_Networks,_Digital_Media_and_Forecasts;2466|title=Research and Markets: Russia - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts|date=June 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203030306/http://www.lteportal.com/MediaChannel/Articles/LTE__LTE-Advanced;6/Market_Analysis;40/Research_and_Markets:_Russia_-_Telecoms,_IP_Networks,_Digital_Media_and_Forecasts;2466|archive-date=December 3, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Cross-country digital [[Circuit switching|trunk]] lines run from [[Saint Petersburg]] to [[Vladivostok]], and from Moscow to [[Novorossiysk]].

Liberalization of the long-distance communication market is another market driver. In January 2006, Russia passed a new law in relation to long-distance telecommunications, which partially broke up the monopolization that Rostelecom had been enjoying in the toll market. The law now allows other carriers to operate toll services. Currently,{{When|date=January 2012}} there are about 32 active companies in this space, including [[Interregional TransitTelekom]] (MTT), [[Golden Telecom]], [[TransTelekom]] and [[Synterra Media]]. share of fixed-line business of [[Rostelecom]]'s main competitors varied in 2012 from 6% ([[Megafon]]) to 19% ([[Mobile TeleSystems|MTS]]). Still, At the beginning of the 2010s, Rostelecom is de facto a monopoly local telephony provider to households in Russia, except for few regions, where incumbents were not part of Svyazinvest holding after the privatization in the early 1990s (the cities of [[Moscow]], [[Pskov]], [[Kostroma]], the republics of [[Tatarstan]], [[Bashkortostan]], as well as [[Tuva]], [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]], [[Chechnya]], and [[Ingushetia]]).<ref>Rostelecom: From an outsiderto a true Big 4 name, Gazprombank</ref>

The substitution of long-distance fixed-line voice services by mobile and IP traffic sped up after 2008, when mobile operators shifted to the fixed-line segment ([[PJSC Vimpelcom]] was the first company out of the Big 3 to acquire [[Golden Telecom]] in early 2008) and simultaneously increased investments into own trunk network infrastructure to support, rapid 3G traffic growth. In February 2014 [[Megafon]], SkyLink, through its subsidiary NetByNet purchased Tele-MIG Besides a company founded in 2003 which provides fixed telephony, IP-telephony and data transmission in [[Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug]].<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www.comnews.ru/node/80683| title =NetByNet проник в Тюменскую область| work =comnews.ru|date=14 February 2014| access-date = 14 February 2014}}</ref>

Russian regulation stipulates that new players must build their own networks. The growth of traffic between Europe and Asia is an additional opportunity; more than 6,000&nbsp;km of international communication cables were built during the first nine months of 2007, representing a 48.5% increase on 2006, according to the Russian Ministry of Communication and Mass Media.<ref>Building Russia's Telecom Networks - Opportunities, challenges and solutions</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|year 
|1911
|1937
|1952
|1873
|1976
|1979
|1980
|1981
|1982
|1983
|1984
|1985
|1986
|1987
|1988
|1989
|1990
|1991
|1992
|1993
|1994
|1995
|1996
|1997
|1998
|1999
|2000||2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 ||2007 || 2008 || 2009 || 2010 || 2011 || 2012 || 
|-
|Number of subscribers (in mill.)
|11.1
|21.2
|98.3
|45.8
|54.7
|35.8
|89.7
|32.3
|67.6
|65.7
|65.9
|23.4
|45.7
|28.7
|21.5
|25.9
|25.4
|24.2
|23.2
|23.4
|23.3
|23.1
|23.5
|23.6
|23.8
|23.9
|23.7||35.5|| 36.1|| 38.5|| 40.1|| 43.9 || 45.2 || 45.5 || 45.4 || 44.9 || 44.2 || 43.1 || 
|}

===Tariffs===
Tariffs in the fixed-line segment are determined by the Federal Tariff Service on an annual basis, taking into consideration inflation and the operators' expenses. The price competition in the long-distance segment increased as mobile operators began implementing promotional tariffs to stimulate voice traffic growth after the crisis (long-distance traffic is predominantly built by corporate clients). At the same time, traditional operators had limited room for maneuver as intra-zonal and domestic LD tariffs, which are subject to regulation by the government, remained flat over the last three years. As a result, mobile operators managed to bite off a heavy share of intraregional and long-distance market from traditional fixed-line operators, first of all regional operators of Svyazinvest, which are now united under Rostelecom.<ref>Rostelecom: From an outsider to a true Big 4 name, Gazprombank</ref>

===Public switched telephone network===
Russian [[public switched telephone network]] (PSTN) has specific features. The lowest part of this model is example of the local network in the middle and large cities. The central office (CO) is connected to the tandem exchange (TE). In some cases, COs are connected by the directly{{Clarify|date=March 2019}}. Such possibility is shown by the dotted lines for three COs connected to the TEIII. COs may be directly connected with the toll exchange. This option is shown by the dotted line for the COII1. Automatic Branch Exchange (PABX) is served by the nearest CO. All TEs are forming the meshed network. Up to the 1990s, TE was independent element of the local network. Operators did not use the equipment combined functions Tandem and Toll Exchanges. So, TE provided connections between COs of the local network, and access to the toll exchange. A function of the toll exchange is to establish connections for the long-distance and international calls. Last type of calls is served by the Gateway (GW). Processing of the local calls is performed by the COs and TEs. If a subscriber dials digit "8" (prefix of the long-distance connection in the national PSTN) all further processing of the call is a function of a toll exchange. The [[Telephone numbers in Russia|numbering plan for the cellular networks]] based on the Area Code (three digits) and number of mobile terminal (seven digits). In this case, the Area Code defines the concrete cellular network.<ref>Research Institute of Telecommunications, St. Petersburg, Russia</ref>