Rostelecom to start laying underwater fiber optic line to Kurils in 2017
YEKATERINBURG. Dec 22 (Interfax) - Rostelecom plans to begin laying a fiber optic line in 2017 that will make it possible to connect Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, the Russian national telecom provider's president, Sergei Kalugin told Interfax.
"We are now planning optics to the Kurils. The launch of commercial operation depends on the weather, and the seabed there is also difficult. Therefore, it's better to build a little later but well. We will essentially complete construction in two years," Kalugin said. Earlier, construction was planned for 2016-2018.
The cost of the project is estimated at about 3.3 billion rubles, Kalugin said. "The cost is comparable to the [fiber optic] project Sakhalin-Kamchatka-Magadan. We will now finish the design and it will be clear how much exactly. But here the financing is a little different. A large part of the money is coming from the federal special program for the development of the Far East," he said.
This project is part of the federal program for the social and economic development of the Kuril Islands for 2016-2025. Rostelecom expects to receive 1.928 billion rubles from the federal budget in 2018 for laying the fiber optic line.
