Internet speed in the Moscow metro increased by 16% over the year

Internet speed in the capital’s metro increased by 16% over the year, to 86 Mbit/s, TelecomDaily calculated. According to the agency, the highest average download speed in hauls was at VimpelCom and MegaFon. Operators note that every year traffic on operator networks in the metro increases by 20–25%, which is why the demand for the Wi-Fi network from MaximaTelecom is falling. The company believes that the public network, on the contrary, relieves mobile networks, allowing them to maintain the quality of services.

Kommersant got acquainted with the TelecomDaily report on Internet speed in the Moscow metro. It follows from it that in October, year-on-year, the average download speed in Internet access segments increased by 16%, to 86 Mbit/s. The study indicates that the highest average download speed in hauls was recorded by VimpelCom and MegaFon, and from the user – by the MaximaTelecom Wi-Fi network. According to TelecomDaily, the average Internet speed on VimpelCom networks was 125.2 Mbit/s, while a year earlier it did not exceed 100 Mbit/s, followed by MegaFon with 123.8 Mbit/s (90 Mbit/s a year earlier ), in third place is MTS with 103.5 Mbit/s (90 Mbit/s), Wi-Fi network “MaximaTelecom” with 47.7 Mbit/s (58.2 Mbit/s) takes fourth position, followed by Tele2 with 29.7 Mbit/s (31.7 Mbit/s a year earlier). Last year, telecom operators increased the average Internet speed almost twice compared to 2021, to 74 Mbit/s (see “Kommersant” on December 20).

TelecomDaily CEO Denis Kuskov claims that, despite the higher speed of data upload, the MaximaTelecom network is not in significant demand due to the complexity of the connection (the user is asked to view advertising or pay for quick access). Mr. Kuskov notes that in the previous two years, VimpelCom was the leader in speed among operators, which was due to the operator’s investments in infrastructure, but now MegaFon, MTS and Tele2 have also increased their spending on networks in the metro.

MegaFon said that the increase in speed in the metro is due to the modernization of the telecom infrastructure, including by connecting equipment to a high-frequency cable. “As a result of these upgrades, the frequencies of 2G and 3G networks were transferred to the modern LTE standard,” the company clarified.

VimpelCom recalled that the company invested about 27 billion rubles in the development of the capital’s network, including the metro, in the period 2020–2021. The company added that mobile traffic in the Moscow metro is growing annually by 20–25%.

Tele2 noted that their connection speed in the metro is sufficient for watching high-definition videos, downloading large files, etc. MTS did not comment on TelecomDaily’s assessments, noting only that in June “according to DMTEL, MTS was recognized as a leader in comprehensive quality assessment communications in the Moscow metro, including download speeds on most lines during peak hours.”

MaximaTelecom claims that the volume of transmitted data in their network in the Moscow metro significantly exceeds the volume on the networks of mobile operators. “The use of a free public Wi-Fi network by passengers reduces the load on operator networks, which allows them to maintain high quality services without additional expansions,” the company believes.

The editor of the specialized Telegram channel “Telekommunalka” Alexey Slukin noted that the problem of equipment shortage in the metro is being solved, including through its sharing. “When one hardware is used by multiple operators, the winner is the one with the wider LTE band, so operators are converting 2G and 3G frequencies to LTE,” he explains.

Kommersant’s interlocutor among telecom equipment manufacturers claims that network stability in the metro is one of the operators’ priorities in terms of investment. According to him, due to the volume of traffic in the metro, the investment is paying off. “It can be assumed that due to sanctions and an increase in the cost of base stations, supporting network development in the metro may affect the financial stability of telecom operators,” he suggests. In his opinion, VimpelCom’s leadership in speed is due to the smaller number of subscribers than its competitors.

Timofey Kornev