From here we will call the Swede – Newspaper Kommersant No. 157 (7358) dated 08/29/2022

The Swedish manufacturer of telecom equipment Ericsson will close its representative office in Russia by the end of the year and will lay off all employees, including those providing technical support on the networks of telecom operators. Other key suppliers, Nokia and Huawei, have not yet announced a complete cessation of servicing Russian customers. Kommersant’s sources admit that some of the Ericsson support staff will move to a new company, which will be established by Russian top managers. Problems for operators may begin due to the lack of components for base stations, experts say. The largest customers of the vendor’s equipment in recent years have been MTS and Tele2.

Sources of Kommersant in the telecommunications market said that on August 22, the parent company Ericsson notified the Russian division that it would close it before the end of the year, and all employees, including those who support equipment on telecom operators’ networks, would be fired. Ericsson confirmed to Kommersant that “as it fulfills its obligations to customers” in the coming months, the company will gradually curtail its activities in Russia, promising “financial and social” support to employees.

Ericsson worked in the Russian Federation with the largest operators. In March 2020, MTS invested 10 billion rubles. in updating its network to the 5G standard based on Ericsson equipment (see Kommersant dated March 26, 2020). Tele2 in May 2021 agreed to purchase 50,000 base stations from a vendor to develop the network in 27 regions of the Russian Federation. MTS and Tele2 declined to comment. MegaFon explained to Kommersant that the amount of equipment from Ericsson on the operator’s network is minimal. VimpelCom did not respond to the request. The ministry declined to comment.

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions, the largest vendors, including Nokia and Ericsson, announced the cessation of supplies to the Russian Federation. Nokia assured Kommersant that “they will make efforts to continue supporting equipment that works on networks.” The only major vendor that has not announced its withdrawal from Russia and the closure of its representative office is the Chinese Huawei. The company did not answer “Kommersant”.

A top manager of a major equipment manufacturer says that Ericsson can separate the support service into an independent legal entity, the founders of which will be management. This version is confirmed by a source in one of the operators. “On the other hand, the operators had enough time to learn how to operate networks without technical support from Ericcson,” one of the interlocutors clarifies. Problems, according to him, can arise if the operator does not have spare parts for base stations, because it is no longer possible to obtain them from Ericsson under warranty. Operators themselves can hire vendor employees who have been made redundant, adds Alexander Sivolobov, deputy head of the Skoltech-based NTI Competence Center for Wireless Communications and the Internet of Things: “This will reduce the damage from poor communication with the manufacturer.”

At first, operators will use previously purchased spare kits, but they are not unlimited, says Rostec, which plans to produce domestic telecommunications equipment: “Equipment is also depreciated during operation, its average useful life is five to seven years. Therefore, up to about 15–20% of the installed base may require updating annually.” The termination of technical support on software of base stations and other Ericsson equipment can appear most critical, added in state corporations: “Operators will lose access to new releases of software of communication networks which include both new functions, and “patches” of vulnerabilities”. An alternative, emphasized in Rostec, could be the transition to Russian equipment.

Nikita Korolev