Displaying items by tag: Russia

Russian digital services operator Tricolor has turned to Orange Business Services to modernize its customer service activities, leveraging technology from Genesys, a global leader in cloud customer experience and contact center solutions.

Tricolor provides digital services, including satellite television and video streaming, for 12.2 million households throughout Russia. By deploying Genesys Engage, the omnichannel and multi-cloud customer engagement solution to be used by hundreds of operators, Tricolor can now interact with its customers all across the country via voice, chat, social networks, instant messaging and e-mail by seamlessly using a single platform.

The solution allows Tricolor to maintain the level of service regardless of communications channel. Tricolor can now also use speech analytics, allowing it to identify the reason for customers’ calls. This in turn provides the company valuable data insights in order to optimize internal processes and allow further self-service provision to end customers. 

Working with Orange Business Services since 2018, Tricolor deployed this new solution on top of its existing infrastructure. The seamless transition to the new platform took only six weeks and did not impact current business processes nor the quality of services provided.

Orange Business Services experts first conducted an audit of the contact center’s internal procedures to draw up an analysis of functionality requirements. All stages of the contact center implementation were carried out in close cooperation with Tricolor.

“We are pleased that Tricolor chose us as a partner for this contact center implementation. An omnichannel platform makes it possible to engage with customers regardless of the communication channel. This is essential to provide a highly personalized customer experience. The benefits have already been seen by more than 500 of our customers around the world,” said Richard van Wageningen, senior vice president, IMEAR,  Orange Business Services.

“Tricolor cares about its customers, so it sought to optimize and improve customer support. Thanks to this innovative solution, we can significantly speed up the processing of calls and provide an omnichannel service. The Genesys Engage platform allows a contact center employee to see complete information on all customer requests in real time. They can then provide the necessary operational support regardless of the communication channel. In our database, there are already more than a 1.5 million user requests. Further data collection will make the work of the contact center even more effective. Introducing speech analytics allows enterprises to automate the assessment of service quality and improve interaction with customers,” said Ekaterina Pavlova, director of the service department of Tricolor. 

The UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has published the results of its ‘United for Smart Sustainable Cities’ initiative (U4SSC) which highlights Moscow’s efforts in digitally transforming the city, according to the Moscow Department of IT.

ITU experts named Moscow a pioneer in smart technology, which could serve as a blueprint for other cities around the world.

In 2019, Moscow worked on a study with ITU on such a large scale by undertaking an analysis of three spheres: economy, environment, society and culture, the study examined the impact of the city’s networks on each.

A list of 91 key indicators based on international standards were used for measurement. Of the 91 key indicators, Moscow ticked the boxes for 76, totaling 84%. Collected data demonstrated that the state, the citizens and private sectors actively engaged with information and communication technology (ICT) to accelerate economic growth and create innovation.

Economy

Moscow city is covered by a large public Wi-Fi network consisting of 18800 access points and almost 100% 3G and 4G coverage

Cybersecurity and the protection of citizen’s data is a high priority for the government of Moscow. Aside from standard data protection practices, it is undertaking studies of blockchain implementation, AI and multifactor authentication to stay ahead of security threats.

Citizens have access to over 300 e-services online though the Gosuslugi platform enabling them to access essential public services without leaving home.

The level of ICT monitoring of roads and public transport is 100%. All of Moscow’s transport stops are equipped with screens of up-to-date traffic information.

Environment

The most ambitious project in this field was the housing renovation program. Over the next 15 years, 1 million citizens will be accommodated in new apartments across Moscow. The goal of the project – is the demolition and replacement of old apartment buildings with modern ones.

Many legislations have been passed on energy efficiency, fire safety, and building materials to achieve the goal. The buildings will be equipped with modern ICT infrastructure for 5G implementation and the introduction of intelligent building technologies and meters.

Society and culture 

Moscow Electronic School (MES) is the largest e-learning project in the world. Thanks to the platform 100% of students have access to ICT resources, totaling around 970 thousand people.

A total of 77.6% of citizens (9.7 million out of 12.5 million) have electronic medical records and can sign up for a doctor's appointment online.

Data collected from the city’s various monitoring systems including sensors, meters, cameras and the “Active Citizen” and “Our City” initiatives, which collect valuable feedback from citizens, provided critical insights into the most problematic areas of city life. This has informed measures taken by the city to remedy the most pressing concerns.

More than 50 countries across the world have begun to implement key indicators of efficiency to reach their own smart city goals. Among them are Singapore, Dubai, Montevideo, Valencia, Huangshan and many others, each of which is a part of large scale experiments implementing new technologies to improve urban living. Participants of the U4SSC program exchange valuable information and experience with one another to promote the latest innovations in smart cities.

The “United for Smart Sustainable Cities” (U4SSC) is a UN initiative, supported by 16 UN agencies and programs and aimed at achieving Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. U4SSC serves as the global platform to advocate for public policy and to encourage the use of ICTs to facilitate and ease the transition to smart sustainable cities.

ICT.Moscow, a digital platform devoted to tech-based solutions, together with the city’s Department of Information Technologies (DIT), has granted free access to a unified knowledge base on 5G.

This unique project will enable users to keep track of the deployment of 5G mobile communication technology in Moscow. In the future, it will be possible to use the platform to stay abreast of the work being conducted in Moscow’s 5G testing laboratories.

The site offers open access to domestic and international cases of solutions based on the application of 5G.

This one of a kind project will be useful not only for Russian companies, but also for international companies wanting to understand how the technology works, keep up to date on related information or test their products in Moscow’s pilot zones and laboratories.  Companies from all over the world with ideas for solutions they would like to implement in its 5G pilot zones can communicate their concepts to the city’s planner by completing a special form on the website.

“One of the city’s primary tasks is to help businesses better understand the opportunities presented by 5G and to encourage the development of new digital products. For this, DIT and ICT.Moscow have launched a special project devoted to 5G – a knowledge base on the development of the latest generation in communication technology. The platform offers individuals and businesses the opportunity to submit ideas of new solutions for testing. As of today, the site already features more than 60 Russian and international case studies,” said Eduard Lysenko, Minister of the Government of Moscow and head of the city’s DIT.

In addition to describing 5G testing and usage practices, the site contains a map showing all the 5G pilot zones in Moscow, both those that are currently operational and those presently preparing to launch. Users can obtain information on the operators who are testing equipment, alongside a list of successful case studies and other useful information.

The news section pulls together information on events, presentations and studies relating to 5G. The site also has a separate section featuring views from Russian experts on the future development of the technology, its impact on business and economic benefits.

The Moscow Department of IT and Russian mobile operator Beeline have announced the launch of a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication pilot zone in the grounds of the Luzhniki sports complex. It is the third 5G zone in Moscow.

According to Beeline, the technological solution employed will simplify its task of launching 5G in densely built-up urban districts where there are severe restrictions on available space.

Beeline aims to start selling the first commercial smartphones and routers for fifth- generation mobile networks by the end of the current year.

“At the present time, the Beeline network in Moscow is already 91% 5G-ready - in other words, ready for deployment of the fifth-generation networks, and 100% of the Beeline network supports NBIoT. We are planning additional launches of pilot zones in the Russian regions, including further testing of new devices, user scenarios and “smart” city technologies in the newly launched 5G zones,” stated the operator.

The launch of the first Moscow 5G pilot zone on Tverskaya Street’s section from the Kremlin to the Garden Ring was announced in August. Since then another pilot zone appeared at VDNH park.

On 7th June 2019, during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, and Alexey Kornya, CEO of mobile network operator MTS, signed an agreement on cooperation for the purposes of developing communication services and information-telecommunication technologies in the city of Moscow. 

The agreement envisages pilot projects aimed at developing new digital technologies and communication services in Moscow, including in the fields of virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, Smart City, and 5G technologies. For these purposes the required information-telecommunication infrastructure will be created in the city.

The authorised agency responsible for implementing the agreement on behalf of Moscow is the city’s Department of Information Technology (DIT). 

“Moscow is setting itself the task of reducing operator expenditure on creating infrastructure for the commercial launch of 5G by removing administrative barriers,” said Eduard Lysenko, Head of DIT.

The agreement has been signed in light of the provisions of the state programme Digital Economy of the Russian Federation, which calls for the creation of pilot segments of the fifth generation mobile communication networks by the end of 2019 and the commercial launch of 5G by 2022. 

Russian mobile operator MTS has launched a 5G zone at VDNKh (All-Russian Exhibition Center), one of Moscow’s major attractions. Equipped by Huawei and functioning on the 28GHz and 4.9GHz frequency bands, the network became operational on Thursday.

It will test so-called Smart City technology, designed to improve security and urban services management, as well as helping to develop Moscow’s transport system.

The agreement between MTS and Huawei was signed in June during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

5G is speeding up the development of self-driving vehicles in Moscow together with other future technologies, according to Eduard Lysenko, Head of the city’s Department of Information Technology: “Moscow is looking into the implementation of telemedicine and IoT technologies in city services which require a secure and fast connection”.

While the super-fast network is currently available around only one of the pavilions in the VDNKh complex, the pilot zone is expected to expand and cover almost the whole of the VDNKh area by 2020.

Owners of 5G-capable smartphones will be able to enjoy super-fast internet connections after the network’s commercial launch, as the first phone connected to the network demonstrated an internet speed of 1.2Gbps. This means it will take around one minute to download a full HD movie.

Moscow’s first 5G zone was launched earlier this month and covers the famous Tverskaya Street. Swedish telecom company Ericsson provided the equipment for the network, which is run by Russian mobile operator Tele2. By the end of this year, Moscow is expected to have four pilot zones, each operated by one of Russia’s four major telecom providers.

Deputy head of Moscow’s IT Department, Alexander Gorbatko, said at the Moscow Ubran Forum that a 5G demo center for testing promising technologies and city services will be set up in the city. The center will be accessible for both Russian and foreign companies.

Ericsson and Russian service provider MTS have teamed up to provide a superior mobile broadband experience for hundreds of thousands of football fans attending the upcoming global soccer tournament in Russia, through Europe’s largest deployment of Massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) to date.

Whether in the stadiums, in fan zones, selected transportation hot spots, or at some of Russia’s most famous landmarks, fans will be able to enjoy higher data speeds in seven of the 11 tournament cities.

In Moscow alone, the deployment covers two stadiums and fan zones, Sheremetyevo airport, Red Square, Tverskaya Street and Gorky Central Park.

Saint Petersburg coverage includes stadium and fan zones, Dvortsovaya Square, and Moskovsky railway station. The other covered cities are Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Niznny Novgorod, Samara and Rostov-on-Don. Ericsson installed AIR 6468 for MTS at more than 40 sites across the seven cities.

Ericsson AIR 6468 is the industry’s first New Radio (NR)-capable radio designed for compatibility with the 5G New Radio standard while also supporting LTE. It features 64 transmit and 64 receive antennas enabling it to support our 5G plug-ins for both Massive MIMO and Multi-User MIMO.

Through the intelligent reuse of system resources, Massive MIMO improves capacity by transmitting data to multiple user devices using the same time and frequency resources with coordinated beam forming and beam steering.

Massive MIMO is making it easier for operators to evolve their networks for a 5G future. This includes Ericsson’s 5G Plug-ins, which are based on many of the breakthrough capabilities in our award-winning 5G Radio Test Bed and 5G Radio Prototypes, currently deployed in operator field trials.

Andrei Ushatsky, Vice President, Technology and IT, MTS, says: "This launch is one of Europe's largest Massive MIMO deployments, covering seven Russian cities, and is a major contribution by MTS in the preparation of the country's infrastructure for the global sporting event of the year. Our Massive MIMO technology, using Ericsson equipment, significantly increases network capacity, allowing tens of thousands of fans together in one place to enjoy high-speed mobile internet without any loss in speed or quality.”

Arun Bansal, Senior Vice President, Head of Europe and Latin America, Ericsson, says: “Hundreds of thousands of football-loving fans are about to experience ultra-high data speeds thanks to our Massive MIMO deployment for MTS across seven tournament cities. Data-demanding mobile connectivity is going to play a huge part in their tournament experiences, so we are delighted to team up with MTS to ensure they enjoy a mobile experience like never before, whether they are at the game, in a fan zone, or at other selected areas.”

More than 1.5 million international fans are expected in Russia across the month-long tournament, which gets underway on June 14 and ends on July 15.

MTS, the largest telecommunications operator in Russia, and Ericsson, have agreed to upgrade the network of MTS. Ericsson will deliver the newest software features that will be continuously developed during the next three years.

The scope of the agreement also includes 5G-ready radio hardware, Ericsson Radio Systems and core network with the latest Ericsson Mobile Softswitch Solution (MSS), as well as User Data Consolidation (UDC), providing consolidation of user data for all network functions.

These solutions will upgrade the mobile networks for 2G, 3G and 4G. In addition, MTS will prepare the network for 5G with Ericsson software for Massive IoT solutions, including NB-IoT and Cat-M1 technologies. This enables a wide range of IoT use-cases including metering and sensor applications.

The agreement supports MTS’s strategy of preparing the network with 5G and IoT-ready hardware to enable a fast commercialization of these technologies. The deployment starts Q4 2017 and total value of the contract is expected to exceed EUR 400 million.  

“In April 2017, in Moscow our company demonstrated 5G technology with peak data rates up to 25 Gbit/sec,” said Andrey Ushatsky, MTS Chief Technology Officer. “Now we have reached an agreement with Ericsson, which will supply MTS with new equipment enabling our network to deploy first solutions based on 5G technologies starting 2020.”

Andrey added, “After upgrade, MTS network will provide higher data rates, increased capacity and low latency. These characteristics are critical for IoT and digital services that we are starting to implement today.”

According to the latest edition of Ericsson Mobility Report, many operators will deploy 5G commercially from 2020, in line with the time plan for 5G standardization. In 2022, the number of 5G subscriptions is forecasted to reach more than 500 million.

The adoption rate of 5G mobile broadband is expected to be similar to that of LTE, and rollout will commence in major metropolitan areas, reaching around 15 percent population coverage by 2022. 5G will enable a wide range of use cases for massive IoT and critical IoT.

“Early deployment of IoT and 5G technologies positions Russia as an early adopter of the most advanced ICT solutions,” said Arun Bansal, Head of Ericsson in Europe and Latin America. “Ericsson supports MTS in the company’s goals to meet growing capacity needs and be ready for huge opportunities that will come with 5G and IoT.

Bansal added, “5G will be a major technology in booming industrial digitalization, creating and enhancing industry digitalization use cases such as immersive gaming, autonomous driving, remote robotic surgery, and augmented-reality support in maintenance and repair situations.”  

The announcement represents a milestone in the large-scale commercialization of IoT and 5G technologies in Russia. It follows the agreement of an extensive 5G Memorandum of Understanding signed by MTS and Ericsson in December 2015.

To further demonstrate the capabilities of 5G and IoT technologies, the two companies will roll out 5G demo zones during FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia.

MegaFon, one of Russia’s leading telecom providers, posted positive results for Q2 2017, with revenue up 13.9 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to reach RUB 89,689 million. OIBDA increased by 15.8 percent y-o-y to reach RUB 34,236 million. The company has denied recent press speculation regarding the possible resignation of its CEO Sergey Soldatenkov.

In an effort to reassure its shareholders, MegaFon said recent reports and media speculation published in Russian business daily Vedomosti on the possible resignation of the company’s CEO are inaccurate. Sergey Soldatenkov has the “full support” of the board of directors, the company said in a press release, who have been “encouraged by a number of improvements in performance.”

“Shareholders are satisfied with the company’s development and support the management and specifically Mr. Sergey Soldatenkov,” said Mr. Streshinsky, Chairman of the Board of Directors at MegaFon. “Competent implementation by the company’s management of the new strategy made it possible to turn around negative sector trends in 2Q 2017, and the situation in the company’s business and on the market has shown the first signs of improvement.”

According to the press release, the Board of Directors is looking forward to Mr. Soldatenkov “leading the company forward in implementation of its 2020 development strategy.” In May, MegaFon announced a new strategy for its development over the next three years, to transform from a traditional telecom operator into an integrated digital services provider.

In terms of financials, Mr. Soldatenkov said the company has “reached a turning point where we see signs of recovery in our overall mobile revenue which has been declining during the previous quarters.” Mobile data and VAS services were the strongest revenue drivers, he said, as customers “continue to recognize the high quality of our 4G/LTE network.” MegaFon is also focused on increasing efficiency and improving margins, he added.  

In August, MegaFon became one of the first operators in Europe to launch a commercial Gigabit LTE network in partnership with Nokia. The peak data download speed reached 979 Mbps using Nokia Air Scale. The test was conducted using Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium smartphone, using the Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, which was the first commercial mobile device in Europe which supports Gigabit LTE.

Nokia Flexi Multiradio modules were used as the base station, which are equipped in most of the sites of the Moscow MegaFon branches, and the Nokia AirScale system module is already in place in order to support the path to 5G.

The demonstration, according to Nokia’s vice president, Eastern Europe, Demetrio Russo, was “another important step towards the launch of MegaFon’s 5G network.”

Russo noted that Nokia was “excited by the cooperation involved in this project, the successful implementation of which will make it possible for MegaFon to offer its subscribers a unique experience of using modern broadband services during the transition to 5G.”

In June, during the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum, together with Huawei, MegaFon demonstrated the operation of a 5G network at 35Gbps, achieving what was then the absolute record in Russia for mobile internet speed.