MTS is looking for a co-investor to produce Irtea base stations

As Kommersant learned, MTS wants to attract partners to the capital of the developer of Irteya base stations. Kommersant’s interlocutors name “Aquarius” as a candidate. MTS needs the deal to share sanctions risks: Irtea is the executor of the government “road map” for the development of telecommunications equipment, experts say. However, Kommersant’s sources consider the production competence of a potential partner to be a more important factor, since Irtea does not have its own facilities, and the ability to arrange the supply or production of components. They believe that sooner or later any serious electronics production in the Russian Federation will be subject to sanctions.

According to a Kommersant source in the market, MTS is looking for a partner who will contribute 50% to the capital of Irtea LLC, owned by the operator. Ltd. is developing communication base stations as part of the government’s road map.

“This is necessary to reduce sanctions risks for MTS due to the fact that Irtea is participating in a state project,” explains a Kommersant interlocutor close to one of the telecom operators. A Kommersant source in another operator confirms that MTS is looking for an investor: “The sale of a stake in Irtey is necessary, among other things, for the company to become more independent and be able to supply base stations to other operators.”

According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, a large electronics manufacturer, Aquarius, is already laying claim to a share in Irtey. MTS and Aquarius declined to comment.

Now Irtea (formerly MTS-Electronics) is 100% owned by MTS. The company is the executor of the roadmap “Modern and advanced mobile communication networks for the period until 2030” – the structure is developing 4G/5G base stations based on OpenRAN architecture. Now dozens of employees who were involved in the development of telecom equipment at Skoltech are moving to Irtea (see. “Kommersant” from November 20).

By June 2026, Irtea intends to launch production of up to 20 thousand stations per year, for which it plans to spend 5.6 billion rubles. own funds (another 5.6 billion rubles will be provided by the state), follows from the “road map”.

Another potentially large manufacturer of base stations, according to the same map, is Yadro: the company intends to produce 31 thousand communication base stations by 2030. The project will require 25 billion rubles. investments, TASS wrote with reference to Yadro CEO Alexey Shelobkov.

Aquarius is also showing interest in the development and production of telecom equipment: in the summer the company announced plans to invest 3 billion rubles. in the development and production of carrier-class switches (see. “Kommersant” from July 17).

Experts note that Irtea, unlike Yadro, does not yet have its own production base.

“Irtea now resembles a design bureau. It needs not so much investments, the parent AFK Sistema can help with them, but a production base. “Aquarius can be useful both as a co-investor and as a production partner,” believes Alexey Slukin, editor of the Telegram channel Telekommunalka.

Cooperation between MTS and one of the Russian vendors of radio-electronic equipment looks logical for both parties, agrees a specialized analyst Telegram channel @abloud62 Alexey Boyko: “The manufacturer will be able to additionally load its production capacity with orders from a reliable buyer, and the developer will have the opportunity to produce his solution at the facilities of not just a contract contractor, but an interested partner.”

A top manager of one of the large manufacturers of telecommunications equipment agrees that now telecom operators and their subsidiaries involved in the development of equipment are trying to reduce risks, including sanctions. “However, today the majority of specialized electronics manufacturers have either already been blacklisted, or are very likely to find themselves there once they begin real production,” he notes. Therefore, Kommersant’s interlocutor believes, the success of the partnership depends on the ability of its participants to establish sustainable supplies or production of components.

Nikita Korolev