Today, Vladimir Putin discussed year-end results for the largest telecom company Rostelecom, as well as plans for the future, with the company's head, Mikhail Oseevsky. Modern standards of communication from the very remote Kuril Islands to Kaliningrad is a very realistic perspective. Moreover, Rostelecom is playing a key role in preparation and deployment of the program Digital Economy of the Russian Federation.
Andrey Grigoryev reporting on what fields will be influenced by technology and how it will change life in our country.
Just as the roads network is like the country's cardiovascular system, the informational structure owned by the telecom company Rostelecom is more like Russia's nervous system, allowing to nearly instantly pass data into any part of the world. It's serving about 100 million Russian residents, the vast majority. Provision of non-interrupted service is definitely a government-level task.
President Putin: "Rostelecom is one of the key carriers of the infrastructure and that gives you the opportunity to also work in a different direction. I'm talking about the program "Digital Russia," digitalization. And it's known that you're already taking the necessary steps in this direction".
Communication development drives Russia's economy forward. And the faster the telecom networks, the more effective is the country's production sector. Social services are also employing more new technologies.
A newly created term "telemedicine" means online consultations and remote diagnostics. The law just came into power on Jan. 1 but in many Russian clinics, one can already see the process in action.
Mikhail Oseevsky, the head of the Rostelecom: "This is over 14 thousand medical institutions, and today, already in over 20 regions telemedicine is actively evolving. Archives of medical images have been set up. Today, a person can undergo an exam in their local clinic, and the MR-scan or an X-Ray is then passed on to a regional or federal center, where highly-skilled specialists can conduct a diagnosis. Obviously, this significantly increases the quality of medical services. We plan to develop such technologies in all of Russia".
Rostelecom plans to reach all the most remote parts of the country. As soon as the weather permits, an underwater cable will be run to the Kuril Islands. This will conclude the Far East digitalization program. Modern technology must enter every apartment, and nowadays, high-speed equipment is being installed on the beginning construction stages.
Mikhail Oseevsky, the head of the Rostelecom: "At the time the building is delivered, we're able to provide fiber-optics into every apartment. Currently, a "smart building" model is becoming more and more popular. It's a system that collects information from sensors that are inside the apartment, as well as from the building as a whole, video surveillance of staircases, surrounding territories. I believe with time, this will become a construction standard. We plan to equip over 800 thousand households annually with this modern infrastructure".
Russia has an advantageous geographical location. It lies on the shortest path between Europe and Asia, which also draws international partners to Rostelecom's projects. The company's gain last year was over 300 million rubles. This is enough to independently finance their own investment program and to remain with a significant profit.
Andrey Grigoryev, Vesti
