Dep. PM sees tenders for network construction in regions as key event in Russian telecoms
ST. PETERSBURG. June 10 (Interfax) - The key event of the year in Russia's telecommunications industry is the tenders being held in a number of regions for construction of communication networks as part of the development of the Digital Economy, Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov told Interfax on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
ER-Telecom head Andrei Kuzyaev mentioned the tenders in his talk on Saturday, Akimov said. "This is the key event of the year, when for the first time we didn't award [contracts] to a sole contractor, Rostelecom , but risked, contracted at tender and received a record number of bids," Akimov said.
He said Communications Minister Konstantin Noskov insisted on this. "We had very difficult discussions on this score. We were a step away from not tendering, but awarding to Rostelecom like before. Communications Minister Noskov must be given his due, he insisted on this, this was to his credit," Akimov said.
Kuzyaev, speaking at sessions at the forum, said that private companies came to tenders for construction of networks even in distant and remote regions, which reflects the telecom business's active position not only in heavily populated cities. In many cases, organizers received four or five bids per lot.