A bankruptcy claim was filed against the Antares group of Evgeniy Roitman. Dead networks. Russian mobile operators who died without being born
The Antares group of Yevgeny Roitman, which was going to build the fifth federal LTE network(4G), its general director Dmitry Bragin left.
The Alliance of Musa Bazhaev, an investor in Antares, claims that the company is reorganizing and changing its business model. But several Kommersant sources insist that the shareholders were disappointed in the project and, due to problems with financing, it was actually stopped.
Two sources close to its former employees told Kommersant about the problems in the Antares group. According to one of them, its general director Dmitry Bragin left Antares, employees have not received salaries for about three months, the company does not pay for the rental of positions for base stations and for the switch. “The group owes contractors about 1.5 billion rubles. The shareholders stopped financing, the project actually stopped,” a Kommersant source claims. According to his information, in total About $80 million was spent on Antares (5.05 billion rubles at the current exchange rate). Dmitry Bragin has been the general director of Antares, Arcturus and Integral since December 2014. Before that, he worked for several large telecommunications companies, including VimpelCom and Rostelecom. Mr. Bragin confirmed to Kommersant that he has not worked at Antares since June 20, but refused further comments.
Another Kommersant interlocutor claims that the new shareholder of Antares, Musa Bazhaev, has claims against the founder of the project, Evgeny Roitman (according to Kartoteka.ru, Antares, Arcturus and Integral belong to Runelia Limited, whose owners are not disclosed). However, a representative of Musa Bazhaev’s Alliance group called “all rumors about leaving the project groundless.” "We got along well partnerships with Evgeniy Roitman. Currently time is running reorganization of the company in connection with a change in the business model agreed upon by all shareholders," Kommersant's interlocutor said. What the company's new business model will be, he did not specify, only stipulating that it should be determined closer to the fall. Evgeniy Roitman did not respond to Kommersant's questions Earlier, Kommersant's sources said that at the beginning of this year, Musa Bazhaev addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter with a request to support the project of creating a 4G operator (presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov then said that in the Kremlin with the content letters are not familiar).
Antares, Arcturus and Integral have permission to develop LTE technology in the 1900-1920 MHz band throughout Russia (each company in certain regions). The Antares group built a network in several regions using equipment from Chinese Huawei, market participants previously said. In Moscow and the Moscow region, the launch was planned at the end of 2015 - beginning of 2016, in other regions of presence - during this year. In October 2015, Kommersant's interlocutors said that 1.3 thousand were built in Moscow. base stations out of 3 thousand planned. The infrastructure for the Antares network in Moscow and in 34 other regions was built by Russian Towers.
However, in Moscow, Antares encountered problems in connection with the launch of the T2 RTK Holding network (Tele2 brand). The companies used adjacent frequency bands, between which there was no guard interval. According to the rules, the interval is created at the expense of the frequencies of the company that later applied to receive frequency assignments. Antares believed that they were the first to submit an application, but Roskomnadzor claimed the opposite. Because of this, the bandwidth allocated to Antares was reduced to 10 MHz. The group encountered similar problems in a number of other regions. Antares and Integral filed claims against the FSUE Main Radio Frequency Center, which is subordinate to Roskomnadzor, in the Moscow Arbitration Court. Having lost in the first instance, the companies first filed appeals, but then registered a waiver of claims.
Russian Towers and Huawei do not comment on whether they had any problems interacting with Antares. From the file of arbitration cases it follows that since the beginning of the year several claims have been filed against Antares for the collection of debt under contracts. The largest one is from Atiks LLC for 11.9 million rubles.
The President of Russia supported the idea of creating a “completely domestic” 4G operator based on the Antares network in the 1.9 GHz band. 70 billion rubles will be invested in the construction of the network; the company will focus on low-income segments of the population.
As reported, entrepreneur and owner of the Alliance group of companies Musa Bazhaev sent a letter to Putin regarding the network cellular communications"Antares". He points out that Antares has exclusively Russian roots and asks the president for help in building the network fourth generation cellular communications (4G) LTE standard.
The letter contains a handwritten resolution from Vladimir Putin, in which he instructs the Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov to consider and report proposals for support of this project“Taking into account the readiness of the Alliance group.” In addition, the resolution instructs to solve “if necessary” the problem of the separation barrier with other operators mobile communications.
The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications declined to comment. The founder of Antares, Evgeny Roitman, did not answer CNews’ call.
At the end of the 2000s, the Antares group received frequencies in the 1.9 GHz range (1900-1920 MHz) throughout Russia for the development of trunking communications. Subsequently, Antares re-registered the frequencies for LTE technology. For several years, Antares was suing for frequencies in the upper part of this range - 1980-2000 MHz, but in 2015 it lost the relevant proceedings.
The presence of two frequency bands would allow Antares to build a network using frequency division technology (FDD). But in the end, the company decided to limit itself to one frequency band and time division division (TDD) technology.
Musa Basazhaev claims that he is ready to invest 70 billion rubles in the construction of the Antares network. First of all, Anatres intends to launch a network in Moscow and the regions where the Russian Platinum company (part of the Alliance group) has mining enterprises - the Far East and Krasnoyarsk region. Next, Antares will cover the entire country with its networks.
Bazhaev calls Antares’s Russian roots an important advantage. The company's shares are 100% owned by Russian citizens; it will not use foreign funding or attract foreign management services, including in the technical field.
The Antares network will be built on equipment from Chinese Huawei and will not use Western European and American equipment. All work on the modernization of software and hardware systems used by the company will take place on the territory of Russia from full access Russian specialists.
Antares' tariff policy will be aimed at broad sections of the population, primarily the low-income.
I’ll say right away that a visit to their website (www.antares4g.ru) did not give the impression that the company was building and launching something. Yes and appearance scary. All words are about the company’s activities in the future tense, but judge for yourself:
The essence of the matter is that Antares is faced with the fact that its neighbors in the 1900-1920 MHz range - Sky Link / Rostelecom, who are building a 3G network, do not assume the presence of a guard interval, which is necessary to exclude interference from one network to another. Often this value is somewhere around 5 MHz.
“The Antares group of companies, owned by entrepreneur Evgeniy Roitman, sent letters to the Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov and the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRFC), in which they complain about Sky Link (Vedomosti has copies). Antares believes that the “daughters” "Sky Link" violated the conditions under which the SCRF allocated them the frequencies 1920-1935 MHz and 2110-2125 MHz for the construction of 3G networks, and asks to cancel these decisions at the next meeting of the commission."
"Sky Link" at one time, under the auspices of the development of CDMA, received these frequencies in order to add this spectrum for sharing with CDMA-450 network. After practically nothing was done for a long time and the question of their selection had to be raised, Sky Link suddenly decided to go into 3G and build a UMTS network.
"In the appendix to decisions of SCRF it is said that Sky Link can use part of the frequencies (1920-1935 MHz) only after the necessary studies have been completed and the minimum required frequency separation with equipment operating at adjacent frequencies of 1900-1920 MHz has been determined (which is exactly what Antares uses "), follows from the letters of [Antares].
... But Sky Link did not do this, and yet Roskomnadzor and the GRFC subordinate to it are considering the operator’s applications for frequency ratings in this range, Antipina is indignant [approx. CEO"Antares" - c0mandir] in a letter addressed to Nikiforov."
How will the issue be resolved (and 5 MHz for Antares - noticeable loss) is still unknown, the operators interacted with the relevant government agencies several times, all this was “intertwined” in time.
It is not clear what is preventing Antares from being built and launched for now, for example, at 10 MHz? After all we're talking about about TD-LTE. Maybe someone knows about their achievements. We have already written about the Moscow start (see and).
Source of quotes: Sky Link may lose the rights to build a 3G network - article in the Vedomosti newspaper
----------------
Back in the spring of this year, there was a message that “The Antares Group of Companies, owned by businessman Evgeniy Roitman and owning LTE frequencies in the range of 1900-1920 MHz, is offering Rostelecom to buy a controlling stake.” (cm. ). Perhaps these letters from “Antares” are a kind of reminder of myself and the “problem”.
This is exactly how the Antares company positions itself.
Recently, Vladimir Putin received a letter from the owner of the Alliance group of companies, Musa Bazhaev, in which he asks the Russian President to help in deploying a 4G LTE network based on the Antares cellular operator. At the same time, Bazhaev emphasizes that the company has 100% Russian roots.
Antares needed the help of the country's leader to obtain frequencies, in this moment employed Tele2.
Having studied the letter, Putin supported the development of the project and instructed Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov to consider and report proposals for its support “taking into account the readiness of the Alliance group.” In addition, the president's resolution takes into account the need to solve the problem with frequencies.
At the request of CNews, there were no comments regarding the situation from the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. The founder of Antares, Evgeniy Roitman, did not answer the call either.
Back in the 2000s, the operator received frequencies in the range of 1900-1920 MHz throughout the country, and subsequently converted them to LTE technology. IN further company led legal battles for the frequencies of the upper range (1980-2000 MHz), but in 2015 she finally lost such proceedings.
As Bazhaev notes, major advantage“Antares” – its exclusively Russian roots. Thus, the operator does not need to attract foreign investment, nor use foreign management services, including technical ones, because 100% of the company’s shares belong to persons with Russian passports.
It is reported that Antares will build own network using appropriate Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei. At the same time, European and American products will not be used in the deployment and operation of the network, and the company intends to carry out all work with the participation and full access to all processes of Russian specialists.
According to Musa Bazhaev, he is already ready to invest 70 billion rubles in the construction of the Antares network. It is noted that the deployment and launch of the network will begin in Moscow and the regions where the Russian Platinum company, which is part of the Alliance group, has mining enterprises - the Far East and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. And only then the operator’s coverage will be distributed throughout the country.
It is currently known about the tariff policy of Antares that the company’s goal is to cover broad sections of the population and primarily the low-income. And this promises a fairly low cost of operator services.
The only problem is the unavailability of a certain frequency range in Moscow. At frequencies adjacent to Antares – 1920-1935 MHz – the third generation network Tele2 operates. [CNews]
The Russian cellular communications market is heavily monopolized - several major players (MTS, MegaFon, VimpelCom, Tele2) control 99% of the 252 million active SIM cards(AC&M Consulting data for the second quarter of 2016).
Local operators have their own advantages related to the scale of their business, wrote Yuri Dombrovsky, head of the Association of Regional Telecom Operators (AROS), in 2014. - The smaller the organization, the more efficiently it can operate. A small subscriber base is easier to manage and it is easier to establish relationships with clients.
But so far the situation is not in favor of the “Other” column. The largest operator not from the Big Four, Ekaterinburg-based Motiv, has only 2 million subscribers, the youngest of the four, Tele2, has 39 million.
In the same article, the head of AROS complained about "unfair competition" - in his words, " large companies, using their resources, in one form or another “oppress” their smaller brothers.” For example, small companies face refusal when trying to join the infrastructure of a large one.
Perhaps the situation could have been different - but several ambitious projects never became mobile networks, others were bought by Big Four companies. About unfulfilled cellular projects the most modern fourth generation (4G) mobile communications today - our article.
"Osnova Telecom": minister to help
In 2010, the then Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov asked Dmitry Medvedev (then the President of the Russian Federation) to allocate 4G frequencies to the little-known company Osnova Telecom. As Serdyukov explained, it was planned to create a federal dual-use network - for the military and for ordinary consumers.
75% of Osnovy Telecom belonged to the company Ikominvest owned by Vitaly Yusufov (son of former Minister of Energy Igor Yusufov), 25% was controlled by Voentelecom (a structure of the Ministry of Defense).
Medvedev decided to help the military - and in 2011 the company received frequencies with the condition that the Ministry of Defense would make Osnova its exclusive supplier mobile internet. Serdyukov’s department complied with this requirement.
But in 2012, Anatoly Serdyukov lost his high post. The new leadership of the Ministry of Defense did not need the Osnovy network: Minister Sergei Shoigu informed the president about this. In 2013, Nikolai Tamodin, who led Voentelecom at the time of the happy distribution of frequencies, was arrested. As a result, he received a six-year sentence for supplying unusable equipment to the Russian army.
In 2014, the court recognized invalid decision State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF) on the allocation of frequencies to Osnova Telecom.
"Summa Telecom": twice unfulfilled
Another 4G operator could be the Summa Telecom company (belongs to the Summa group of Ziyavudin Magomedov). In 2006, this operator received frequencies to create the WiMax network (this “long-range” modification of Wi-Fi uses the same frequency range, 2.5-2.7 GHz, same as 4G). But the network was never built - and in 2010, the SCRC reversed its decision. “Summa” appealed to the court with a demand to consider its applications for frequencies in the same range, now for the construction of a fourth generation network (LTE technology). SCRF considered the issue and decided not to issue frequencies.
The Moscow Arbitration Court still ordered that Summa be given a few frequencies. This decision was not supported in appeal and cassation.
Today Summa Telecom is engaged in wired connection- 250 thousand subscribers in 11 regions. A few months ago, a large supplier of telecom equipment - Chinese Huawei- about the bankruptcy of this operator.
"Antares": they even got numbers
The Antares company is associated with the structures of businessman Evgeniy Roitman (formerly a top manager at Media Most). The partner of his 4G project, as reported by the media, was the president of the Alliance group, Musa Bazhaev. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the companies of the Antares group belong to the Cypriot company Runelia.
Antares structures received numbering capacity in the “beautiful” code 900. Last year, promises were made to launch an LTE network in the capital by the beginning of 2016. The plans for this year included 13 more regions. So far - nothing.
Last year, Antares tried to take away the voice! brand, which is not used in Russia, from Telecom Italia. Apparently, this should be the name of the yet unborn network - for which several hundred base stations have already been installed in the capital.
Representatives of Antares (like their colleagues from Osnova Telecom and Summa Telecom) did not answer Life’s questions about their plans.
The main problem of domestic cellular operators has always been that they could use the available frequency resource only on a secondary basis; communications for the military have always been a priority. In this regard, by the way, the frequency ranges used mobile operators Russia, many times “shorter” than the ranges of their Western colleagues. Currently, the army is actively moving to digital equipment communications, in the future this promises clearing of the spectrum, thanks to which new operators may still appear in Russia.
