Telecom operators in Sochi and Adler have limited access to the Internet

Subscribers of Russian mobile operators began to complain about massive problems with access to mobile Internet in Sochi and Adler. The municipal control center of Sochi explained that the problems are related to the work to improve the quality of communication in the summer season. According to Kommersant, operators were forced to restrict access to services on behalf of the Ministry of Digital Development. The reason may be the EAEU and CIS events taking place in the city with the participation of a number of high-ranking officials: the restrictions affected the frequencies of 2600 MHz, which intersect with those used by the military. According to Kommersant’s sources, communication has already begun to be restored.

Municipal control center of the city of Sochi on June 6 in its Telegram channelreferring to the summer operational headquarters, said that from June 7 to 9 in some areas of the city there may be problems with access to mobile Internet: “The reason for the temporary interruptions was the ongoing work to improve the quality of communication in the summer season.”

On June 7, the subscribers themselves massively complained about malfunctions in the services and problems with access to the mobile Internet. According to residents’ comments on the VKontakte social network, interruptions occurred in Sochi and Adler.

Users also claim that there is no access to mobile Internet at the local airport, linking the problems with the arrival in Sochi of a number of high-ranking officials (including Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Zhaparov) to participate in a number of events, including a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

The MegaFon support service confirmed to Kommersant that there are difficulties with mobile Internet, calls and SMS in Sochi, Krasnaya Polyana and Adler: “The reasons have not yet been identified, but technical specialists are making every effort to identify and resolve the issue as soon as possible.” The press service of MegaFon, VimpelCom, MTS and Tele2 declined to comment.

From a letter from the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRC) subordinated to Roskomnadzor to the technical department for the Krasnodar Territory of one of the operators dated June 5 (Kommersant has a copy), it follows that, based on the instructions of the Ministry of Tsifra dated June 3, telecom operators should limit work from June 7 to 9 companies-owned radio electronic facilities (RES) on a number of frequencies on which the LTE communication standard operates in certain areas of the region. The document states that information on readiness to comply with the ban must be reported to the department for the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Adygea of ​​the branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise GRCHTS in the South Siberian Federal District before June 6.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation did not respond to Kommersant’s request, the GRCHTS declined to comment, the administration of the Krasnodar Territory reported that they did not have data on the orders of the ministry and the center. An interlocutor of Kommersant in the region who is familiar with the situation says that a few hours after Kommersant’s requests to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the State Committee for Digital Development and the government of the Krasnodar Territory, “access to mobile Internet in the region began to recover.”

Such interruptions in access to mobile Internet are reminiscent of the situation with the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Volgograd, and this was done for the security of the first person, says a Kommersant source in the telecom industry.

According to him, most likely, they will actively jam the LTE frequency at 2600 MHz, since it intersects with the frequency used by the air defense forces (Air Defense): “Most likely, the air defense is in enhanced mode there, which is why they turn off access to the mobile Internet “.

In the case of normal repairs, the interlocutor of Kommersant adds, the operators use the reserve capacity of the servers so that access to the Internet is uninterrupted. But in this situation, “all providers are forced to restrict access to communication services in large areas, and for them it is reputational and financial risks.” Another market participant clarifies that such security measures have long been taken in the LPR: “Thus, the regional government can create problems for sabotage groups that use social networks and instant messengers to communicate with each other.”

Vadim Krasnikov, Yulia Yurasova; Anna Perova, Krasnodar