The hopeless cellular network Sonnet is for sale. The sonnet network is developing

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Began its activities on August 17, 1998 and completed in 2004. He specialized primarily in relatively inexpensive unlimited mobile communications. The general director was Mikhail Valerievich Susov. The parent company is AFK Sistema. The number of subscribers when the network was closed was about 100,000. Subscribers were provided with new telephone sets, as well as telephone numbers that changed during the transition.

As of May 1, 2005, 92.5% of the shares belonged to Sky Link CJSC, 7.5% to Qualcomm Inc.

In March 2008, the board of directors of Sky Link decided to reorganize Sonet CJSC in the form of a merger with Sky Link CJSC.

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Excerpt characterizing the Sonnet (cellular operator)

– Surely you will command it yourself? – said Julie, slyly and mockingly exchanging glances with the militiaman.
The militiaman in the presence of Pierre was no longer so caustique, and his face expressed bewilderment at what Julie’s smile meant. Despite his absent-mindedness and good nature, Pierre’s personality immediately stopped all attempts at ridicule in his presence.
“No,” Pierre answered laughing, looking around his large, fat body. “It’s too easy for the French to hit me, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to get on the horse...
Among the people being selected for the subject of conversation, Julie's company ended up with the Rostovs.
“They say their affairs are very bad,” said Julie. - And he is so stupid - the count himself. The Razumovskys wanted to buy his house and his property near Moscow, and all this drags on. He is treasured.
“No, it seems that the sale will take place one of these days,” someone said. – Although now it’s crazy to buy anything in Moscow.
- From what? – said Julie. – Do you really think that there is a danger for Moscow?
- Why are you going?
- I? That's strange. I’m going because... well, because everyone is going, and then I’m not Joan of Arc or an Amazon.
- Well, yes, yes, give me some more rags.
“If he manages to get things done, he can pay off all his debts,” the militiaman continued about Rostov.
- A good old man, but very pauvre sire [bad]. And why do they live here for so long? They had long wanted to go to the village. Does Natalie seem to be well now? – Julie asked Pierre, smiling slyly.
“They are expecting a younger son,” said Pierre. “He joined Obolensky’s Cossacks and went to Bila Tserkva. A regiment is being formed there. And now they transferred him to my regiment and are waiting for him every day. The Count has long wanted to go, but the Countess will never agree to leave Moscow until her son arrives.
“I saw them the other day at the Arkharovs’. Natalie looked prettier and cheerful again. She sang one romance. How easy it is for some people!
-What's going on? – Pierre asked displeasedly. Julie smiled.
“You know, Count, that knights like you only exist in the novels of Madame Suza.”
- Which knight? From what? – Pierre asked, blushing.
- Well, come on, dear Count, c "est la fable de tout Moscou. Je vous admire, ma parole d" honneur. [all of Moscow knows this. Really, I'm surprised at you.]

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Cellular network SONET- a trademark of the Russian company “Personal Communications” (registered with the Moscow Registration Chamber on November 21, 1995), under which it provided mobile communication services in the IS-95 standard (CDMA technology) in the 800 MHz frequency range.

As a cellular operator, Personal Communications OJSC began its activities on August 17, 1998. They specialized primarily in relatively inexpensive unlimited mobile communications. The general director was Mikhail Valerievich Susov. The parent company is MTU-Inform (a subsidiary of AFK Sistema). The number of subscribers when the network was closed was about 100,000. Subscribers were provided with new telephone sets, as well as telephone numbers that changed during the transition.

The company received licenses for the provision of radiotelephone communication services in Moscow and the Moscow region (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 17454), Vladimirskaya (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8956), Tverskaya (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8959), Yaroslavl (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8960) and Tula (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8960) 9827) areas.

In 1998, a network based on Qualcomm network equipment was put into operation. With the rapid growth in the number of subscribers, problems arose with network capacity. In 1999 a decision was made to replace the existing network infrastructure. During 2000 The SONET cellular network has carried out a full-scale replacement of the network infrastructure and installed the latest generation network equipment produced by the world's leading supplier "Lucent Technologies". At the end of 2000 and the first quarter of 2001, networks were put into operation in the Vladimir, Tver, Yaroslavl and Tula regions.

From the very beginning, the company did not adhere to the standard division of the user audience by solvency, age, etc. levels, but was based on the volume of customer needs for communication services. SONET cellular network is the first operator to offer its users unlimited tariff plans aimed at multi-talking subscribers. In 2001, per-second tariff plans were introduced, which are of interest to subscribers who use the phone for a small number of conversations.

The operator's network was closed in 2004.

The reason was the refusal of the state. regulator in extending the license for the frequency range under the pretext of freeing up frequencies in the region of 800 MHz for the development of digital television (at the moment - 2017 - DVB-T2 frequencies are used for digital television broadcasting in Moscow). The operator was a sponsor of the intellectual game for some time.:

SSC (Skylink), after reorganization into CJSC Astarta, was sold throughout Russia with all its licenses (including for GSM) to Rostelecom. Rostelecom is building its UMTS networks in many regions of the Russian Federation and plans to become the fourth 3G+ operator in Moscow in December. After the communications monopolist covers all areas from Anadyr to Kaliningrad, Skylink will leave the game forever. Despite the fact that we currently have conferences on Ev-Do Rev. in Europe. C, which allows you to reach speeds of up to 500 MB/sec. in both directions, Russia is unlikely to pull off something similar in the next 5-10 years. Don’t forget how many years the Ministry of Communications issues licenses for you, and if under Reiman there was at least some hope for the future of SkyLink, now there is none. The operator's phones are 8-10 years out of date, the flagship runs on the Windows Mobile 6 OS, for which there is practically no supported, modern application. Most likely, the IMT-MC 450 MHz standard will be used for telephony in remote areas where it is very difficult to lay a cable; devices like Nexpring NP10T will be installed to connect handsets via RJ11 and possibly access the Internet at a speed of about 1 Mb/sec.. This the best that can happen to the company, in the worst case, it will be abolished along with all obligations to former subscribers, perhaps even with all the licenses who actually need GSM. Returning back to the reorganization of SSC into Astarta, it is worth noting that this was a forced step by the company to continue providing communication services in Voronezh and the region; the old company would have been dragged through the courts by defrauded SSC subscribers in Kursk, Belgorod, Orel and Tambov, who were left with NMT Nutcrackers and positive balances after May 30, 2005. After waiting the promised 3 years, they went to the courts, not regretting spending more than the positive balance on the balance sheet. By the way, the main role in this case was played by human stupidity, because a company that barely covered Voronezh and barely recruited 10,000 subscribers would hardly have been able to compensate for anything.

Sonnet and Skylink:

Now about the Sonnet. It seems to me that Wikipedia has enough information for 9 years, like the deceased operator. I can only add that the cellular operator Sonet, which appeared on August 17, 1998, at the height of the crisis, worked in the IS-95 standard. Despite the unique tariffs, beautiful rooms and modern handsets, the operator was constantly plagued by failures. The fact that it started during the crisis of 1998 is not the only problem. The operator's choice of the CDMA standard in the 800 MHz band (IS-95), as history has shown, was not very successful. At first, the company had to litigate with the Ministry of Communications, trying to prove that this standard could be used not only for wireless fixed communications. Later, the so-called “problem of 2010” arose: in April 2000, the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF) made a strategic decision regarding all cellular networks in the 800 MHz range (CDMA and AMPS/DAMPS standards). By 2010, digital television began operating in this range in Russia, so mobile operators had to abandon it. With the support of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy, Sonnet won a victory in the courts over the Ministry of Communications. The courts declared the requirement to work exclusively in a fixed mode illegal, and also protected Sonnet from the “problem of 2010”. However, these victories remained on paper, because the main shareholder of the operator, AFK Sistema, or rather its former division Sistema Telecom, which included Sonet, decided not to conflict with the Ministry of Communications. The fact that the Sonnet network would cease to exist became known already in May 2004. Previously, the shareholders of Sistema Telecom, a structure that included the Sonet company, considered the development of a CDMA (IS-95) network to be unpromising. New connections to Sonet stopped in September 2004, however, representatives of the operator assured that the network would continue to operate until the last subscriber. However, in reality it turned out that the Moscow network worked only until March of the next year, despite the fact that it continued to serve about 40 thousand subscribers. March 27, 2005 was the last day of operation of the Sonet cellular network. The next day, the operator's license expired, and at the same time all telephone handsets connected to this network fell silent. Subscribers were “drove” to SkyLink, they had to exchange their polyphonic, color modern phones for nutcrackers Synertek S-200, Hyundai-Curitel HX-510B and Huawei ETS 388, which, apart from calls, could not even write SMS, but if this bandura is connected to PC, you could access the Internet at a speed of 153 kb. /sec., which was 3G speed according to Skylink (they were, of course, silent about EDGE). Beautiful numbers in the code +7-501, subscribers were replaced with regular +7-901, also without asking.

Kodotel, Votek-Mobile and Tele2:

On December 19, 1997, the closed joint stock company Kodotel received a license from the State Committee for Communications for the CDMA IS-95 standard, number 9070, for the provision of communication services. Kodotel becomes a pioneer of the first CDMA systems in Russia. Like “Sonnet,” “Kodotel” falls under the “problem of 2010,” but it is not going to give up. Of course, Kodotel does not have the kind of money to sue in Moscow and win, like Sonet, but it is becoming a popular operator in the Voronezh region and is squeezing the maximum out of the network, issuing a city six-digit number to each subscriber for connection at unlimited tariffs. As a gift, they were given unlimited Internet at low speed, which was quite good for Dial-up times. Kodotel also organized generous promotions for subscribers, gave gold jewelry when buying a new phone, raffled off cars, etc. In those same distant times, in the city of Voronezh there was another independent operator, Votek-Mobile, operating since 1995 in the same frequency range (800 mhz), but in the AMPS standard. Votek-Mobile also waged its own war, hoping to extend the license for the range at least until 2010, but its attempts were unsuccessful. In 2003 - 2006, the Swedish operator Tele2 came to Russia, which hoped to conquer the whole of Russia with its cheap tariffs, buying up small regional operators; in Voronezh, Tele2 bought Votek-Mobile, pocketing several tens of thousands of subscribers. By the way, Tele2 was counting on fair play and thought that getting a license in Moscow, after St. Petersburg, would not be difficult, but that was not the case. Courts, raids and other delights of life, or rather existence in Russia, simply did not give them a chance, like many others. But let’s return to the Kodotel company, which still managed to get a license, or rather the right to life until 2010. Kodotel continued to develop and provided a high level of service to its subscribers, which is what subscribers valued in their favorite operator. After all, subscribers of small operators are very conservative and value just those little things that are inaccessible to a simple subscriber of the Big Three. On the eve of 2010, Kodotel makes the last push to save his life - he participates in a competition for a GSM-1800 license and wins it. However, by this time, other operators were already working in the 3G standard, and the century had switched from “voice” to “Internet”. Even a free connection to the network with a city number did not save Kodotel from inevitable death. In the spring of 2013, it was announced that Kodotel was buying Tele2. By the way, Tele2 was bought by VTB Bank in the same spring, which mothballed the operator until better times in the condition in which it is. Of course, VTB squeaked something about how they would quickly get a license for Moscow, but quickly shut up.

Rostelecom and the Big Four:

While everyone was looking at the top three, a non-mobile operator was buying up small cellular networks right in front of them, namely:

1. NSS, providing its services in eight regions of the Volga region: Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Orenburg regions, the Republic of Mordovia, the Chuvash Republic and the Republic of Tatarstan.
2. Elaine-GSM, operating in the Republic of Mari El.
3. Tambov-GSM, Tambov. and Tambov region.
4. Volgograd-GSM, working in the Volgograd region.
5. Utel, operating in seven regions of the Urals: Perm Territory, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions), Khanty-Mansiysk, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
6. ETC, a GSM mobile operator in six regions of Siberia: Krasnoyarsk Territory, Republic of Khakassia, Republic of Tyva, Kemerovo Region, Altai Territory and Altai Republic.
7. Baikalwestcom, mobile operator of GSM and CDMA standards in the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia.
8. Akos, mobile operator of the GSM-1800 standard in Primorsky Krai.
9. Dalsvyaz GSM, operating in five regions of the Far East: Amur region, Jewish Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Territory, Magadan and Sakhalin regions.

In the summer of 2013, all these networks ceased to exist under their own brands, becoming Rostelecom. Immediately in August 2013, Rostelecom launches its own 3G mobile network in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, and in December it is going to launch a cellular network in Moscow and Moscow Region. In the style of Ostap Bender, Rostelecom may displace the same VimpelCom, operating under the Beeline brand, in the near future. Personally, it seems to me, and by the way, I am rarely mistaken, that the purchase of the Tele2 operator by the state bank VTB is nothing more than a government scam. Who knows, he will understand, because VimpelCom wanted to buy Tele2 at a much higher price than VTB, but they threatened the Swedes, saying that it was either so much or nothing. The Swedes, having finally understood “how business is done in Russia,” did not argue and breathed a sigh of relief. After Rostelecom launches a cellular network in Moscow, most likely Tele2 will be purchased by it from VTB Bank, thus Rostelecom will be represented in almost all regions of Russia, with minimal tariffs to increase its subscriber base. VimpelCom, which closes the top three, will be fourth almost immediately, and fourth, as the practice of the cellular communications market in Russia shows, no one needs.

I remember when in the TV game “What? Where? When?" The smartest connoisseurs were given the “Golden SONNET” (an eternally free telephone with the right to be passed on by inheritance), many connoisseurs were jealous. But even then, skeptics, looking at all this, muttered “nothing lasts forever” and “we’ll wait and see.” We lived and saw: yes, nothing lasts forever, and especially “SONNET” - even more so.

On December 11, the Sistema Telecom company announced its intention to soon sell its stake in Personal Communications CJSC, which provides communication services under the SONET brand. It was also decided to stop developing the infrastructure of the SONET network.

Answering questions from a correspondent for the Sotovik website, Sistema Telecom President Alexander Goncharuk called SONET an “incomprehensible” project and literally said the following: we will sell SONET! I won’t tell who, it’s not my secret. In the near future, as soon as we agree on the parameters of the deal. I think it's a matter of months. This will be an amount equal to all the costs of building the network and no more, since we consider this project unpromising."

The announcement of the sale of SONET itself did not come as a surprise to analysts, but few expected that the decision would be made so soon.

The SONET cellular network began operating in Moscow on August 1, 1998. SONET began to provide a new type of telephone services at that time - wireless subscriber access WLL (Wireless Local Loop), implemented on the basis of the latest digital technology with code division of CDMA channels. Having begun its development from remote areas of the capital, the network rapidly expanded and by the end of 1999 it covered the entire territory of Moscow and the immediate Moscow region.

Already in September 1999, when MTU-Inform invested $17 million in the development of the SONET fixed subscriber radio access (CDMA) network, Alexander Goncharuk reported that the company’s lack of a mobile communications license made it difficult to recoup these costs.

Then, two years ago, Sistema Telecom, together with MTU-Inform, studied options for getting out of the current situation. Apparently, the process was “accelerated” by the German shareholders of Sistema-Telecom.

Alexander Goncharuk himself admitted that the company had wanted to get rid of SONET for a long time: “Even when this project came into our ownership, it would have been possible to close it down, but at that moment we would have lost money. Instead, we preferred the scenario in which limited development should have ended in sale. Although, in general, CDMA technology is promising and is being developed, for example, by MCC and Delta-Telecom.

Despite all the “prospects” of CDMA, the fate of SONET may also befall other operators providing fixed subscriber radio access. According to Gazeta.Ru, in the future Sistema-Telecom may also get rid of another “unpromising” cellular enterprise - the Moscow Cellular Communications company, which provides services in the outdated analog standard NMT-450.

The Sonnet network is developing

Petr Chachin

Joint Stock Company “Personal Communications” is expanding the range of wireless subscriber access services in Moscow and the Moscow region, implemented on the basis of digital technology with code division of CDMA channels. “The Sonet cellular network (this is a trademark of the Personal Communications company) in addition to the standard set of communication services - the ability to conduct intra-zonal, local, long-distance and international telephone conversations, use fax and modem with a guaranteed data transfer rate of 14.4 kbit/s - provides its clients with additional services, such as call forwarding, call waiting and transfer, three-way communication and call barring,” said the general director of this company, Mikhail Susov, at a press conference in Moscow.

Mikhail Susov, General Director

"Personal Communications" company

Fixed cellular communications provided by the Sonet network also have a number of advantages compared to cellular communications of other standards. Firstly, CDMA technology is characterized by efficient use of the radio spectrum and tens of times greater specific subscriber capacity, which can have a positive impact on tariff policy. Secondly, CDMA eliminates the possibility of unauthorized access and eavesdropping, and also provides better noise immunity. Thirdly, CDMA technology is characterized by low radio transmitter power, which determines its relative safety for the human body. In addition, it is very important that Sonet will use the powerful transport and telephone networks of the founder of the Personal Communications company, the MTU-Inform company.

The construction of the Sonet cellular network was launched primarily in remote areas of the capital, where the problem of telephone installation is especially acute. Commercial operation began in August (see PC Week/RE, No. 36/98, p. 21). Currently, 14 base stations (BS) have been introduced and about a thousand subscribers are served. There are about 20 more BS at various stages of readiness, which will be able to serve a significant part of the city. It is expected that by the end of next year the network will cover the entire territory of Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region and will provide communications to about 40 thousand subscribers.