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- On their own waves: the industry will transfer the frequencies of the American Globalstar
On their own waves: the industry will transfer the frequencies of the American Globalstar
Industrial enterprises may receive frequencies for the construction of 4G cellular networks for the first time. This will speed up the introduction of robots, drones, machine tools, sensors, etc. Such a decision may be made at the next meeting of the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCR). The allocation of a special band became possible after the departure of the American satellite operator Globalstar from Russia, and its frequencies will be given to enterprises.
Why do we need 4G frequencies?
In mid–April, the State Emergency Committee plans to allocate a frequency range of 2483.5-2495 MHz to an "indefinite circle of people" to create 4G cellular networks. This is stated in the materials of the interdepartmental commission, which were reviewed by Izvestia. This is necessary to ensure production activities and technological processes, increase their safety and efficiency of digital transformation of various sectors of the economy, the documents say.
The RNG may allow the transmission of frequencies for five years. There are restrictions for enterprises that will use this range: if they interfere with wireless Internet access or satellite communications systems, their work will have to be restricted or even disabled.
The issue is being considered according to a joint statement by the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Rosatom.
The American satellite communications operator Globalstar was operating in Russia on frequencies that can be allocated to the Russian industry and energy sector until 2022, one of the frequency planning specialists notes. But in 2022, the company ceased operations in Russia, and these frequencies were returned to the state, he says. And now the industry will receive them — this is the first precedent of this kind, because previously LTE frequencies were issued only to cellular operators, the Izvestia interlocutor points out. According to him, representatives of industry and energy have been seeking the right to build their own 4G cellular networks for more than two years.
— To create corporate networks, companies, including those in the fuel and energy sector, were forced to turn to mobile operators. If the decision of the State Emergency Committee is made, the industry and the fuel and energy complex will be able to build their LTE networks without the participation of communications specialists," he claims.
According to the expert, this approach will make it possible to create production networks faster, spend less on their operation (after all, telecom companies will no longer have to pay for it), and most importantly, the infrastructure will be safer — it will not come into contact with public cellular networks. This is extremely important, for example, for nuclear facilities, he believes.
Obtaining frequencies for industrial LTE opens up huge opportunities for enterprises, market participants are confident. They can operate complex control systems, in particular, high-tech machine tools, autonomous transport in enterprises, coordinate mobile teams, and much more. To deploy such systems, the industry is still forced to turn to mobile operators or use limited-range solutions, such as Wi-Fi, one of the Izvestia interlocutors points out.
According to a source in the cellular market, the frequency band width (10 MHz) is enough for telemetry and monitoring of intelligent enterprise management systems. But, for example, for intelligent video surveillance (video analytics), this will most likely not be enough, he doubts.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the activities of the State Committee for Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Energy and Rosatom.
Cellular networks for business
Many industrial companies are interested in covering production facilities with private LTE cellular networks (pLTE), and most profitable scenarios for using fifth-generation (5G) networks are exclusively related to corporate applications, says Leonid Konik, partner at ComNews Research.
— Corporations have many different reasons for deploying a private cellular network, instead of resorting to the services of commercial mobile operators. Among them is fast cellular coverage of production assets in remote areas that commercial operators have not reached: not only oil, gas and other mining companies have such needs, whose deposits are often located in deserted areas, or even offshore, but also agricultural producers, the expert explains.
Many corporations care about information security and do not want to use public cellular networks, he adds. Someone wants to fully control the costs of the cellular network, rather than understand the pricing of operators, for some it is even a matter of prestige, says Leonid Konik.
Russian companies from a variety of industries have been actively deploying private cellular networks over the past five years. According to ComNews Research, by the beginning of 2025, there were 97 commercial implementations and pilot projects of Private LTE/5G in Russia (including 35 commercial networks). Companies from the mining sector have deployed the most private networks in the Russian Federation: 20 commercial and 13 pilot ones, the second place is occupied by participants in the transport and logistics market (eight commercial and 11 pilot networks), and the third place is occupied by enterprises of the oil and gas and petrochemical industries (two commercial and 13 pilot networks). The vast majority of cellular networks for the Russian industry are based on the infrastructure of mobile operators.
Many countries around the world have already allocated special frequency bands for private mobile networks, and only industrial companies can receive them — these frequencies are not available to mobile operators. Germany was the first in the world to do this, and there are many similar examples in Europe and beyond, says Leonid Konik. Cellular operators around the world are not enthusiastic about the idea of private wireless networks, because by deploying the pLTE/p5G network, the corporation stops paying them for services, and the larger the corporation, the more it can bring profit to the mobile operator, he continues.
Allocating frequencies directly to enterprises can lead to negative consequences for both operators and enterprises themselves, VimpelCom fears. The company talks about an increase in the cost of digitalization projects for industrial companies, a deterioration in the user experience of mobile subscribers on the territory of enterprises, and an increase in the risks of failures of critical infrastructure.
"Global practice has shown that the optimal model for deploying private networks has become a service one, when telecom operators deploy their telecom infrastructure on their frequencies at the customer's enterprise and ensure appropriate network operation," VimpelCom noted.
The frequency range proposed for the allocation of the GCR is critically close to the cellular frequency bands, MegaFon warns.
— We hope that the strict restrictions imposed on the characteristics of LTE technology networks will ensure their joint operation with existing mobile communication networks. Nevertheless, it is not yet possible to completely eliminate the possibility of interference in the work of mobile operators, the company fears.
The operators have accumulated the greatest experience in the design, creation and operation of dedicated LTE networks, this is their core activity, MTS noted. According to a ComNews study, the operator accounted for almost half of all corporate deployments, they added.
There is a contradiction in the proposed solution, since the allocation is planned not for an "indefinite" circle of people, but for a specific one — power engineers, nuclear scientists and industrialists, says a source in the telecom market. It will be difficult for non-core companies to create dedicated networks on their own without proper expertise and specialized IT and telecom specialists, he believes. Building dedicated networks from scratch, especially in this range, is a costly undertaking, given the regulatory requirement to use domestic equipment in technological networks.
However, Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecmDaily, believes that allocating industry frequencies will allow for independent development of their information systems — an enterprise with its own private network will not depend on the capabilities of a commercial operator. The level of security is also increasing — it is much more reliable to transmit information in your own closed system than in the network of a third-party organization, the expert concluded.
Reliable communication in production meets the general trend towards business digitalization: It allows enterprises to increase efficiency, perform certain operations faster, reduce costs, and (for example, fix equipment failures, leaks, and the like on time), says Karen Ghazaryan, director of the Internet Research Institute. In addition, remote control of personnel allows you to increase discipline and productivity and at the same time makes production safer, the expert notes.
For those who are close to hazardous industries, this also means an increase in safety and a reduction in environmental risks, concluded Karen Ghazaryan.
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