of Irtea's press service did not answer questions from a ComNews correspondent.

[tanjimajuha20]

According to Telecom Daily CEO Denis Kuskov, the choice of Bulat was due to the ten-year history of cooperation between the companies (Bulat’s official website states that the company was created in 2015 “with the support and assistance of Rostelecom”).

In addition to Bulat, base stations in the Russian Federation are being developed by Irtea LLC (50% of the company belongs to PJSC MTS) and KNS Group LLC (Yadro trademark), as well as St. Petersburg-based LIS LLC, which was not awarded forward contracts by the Big Four. A representative

A representative of switzerland telegram the Yadro press service said that the company is developing and testing operator-class equipment that can be used for UCN and to which strict requirements are imposed: on the quality of the developed functionality, reliability and price.

"At the end of 2025, Yadro plans to introduce a new hardware platform and the first versions of software for the base station. After that, operators will be able to begin testing Yadro equipment in different regions of Russia, including testing scenarios for using the product within the framework of the UCN program and building networks in small towns. In 2027-2029, testing of the next versions of the Yadro base station and the start of mass production are planned," noted a representative of the Yadro press service.

Natural monopoly
"In a situation with a single supplier of base stations, two points are important: can the program work on other technologies and are there alternative manufacturers of this equipment? If the Hytera technology localized by Bulat is the only technology that can be used within the framework of the program to eliminate digital inequality and there are no other manufacturers and suppliers of base stations in Russia, then there are no problems with antitrust legislation, except for price control. If the technology is not the only one and there are other manufacturers and suppliers, then in this case there will be problems, since purchasing from your own subsidiary in the presence of other manufacturers and suppliers is a restriction of competition in the relevant market. Therefore, as always, the devil is in the details," noted Mikhail German, advisor to Impravo LLC.

According to Yulia Kuzmenko, Senior Lawyer at Leadings Law Firm, the situation where Rostelecom uses the products of one company should not raise questions from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). She noted that Rostelecom is a natural monopoly entity whose activities are regulated by Federal Law No. 147-FZ of 17.08.1995 "On Natural Monopolies", which provides for various types of state control in the interests of consumers.