Page 103 - RusRPTMay19

9.1.8 Telecoms sector news
Russia's President Vladimir Putin reportedly allowed the release of 3.4– 3.8 GHz frequencies that are used by the military for the use by the private sector, in order to facilitate the stymied roll-out of 5G networks in the country, Vedomosti daily reported on April 5 citing unnamed the meeting of state commission of national frequencies. As analysed by bne IntelliNews, the introduction of 5G network has been slowed by lack of clear policy decision on frequency allocation on one hand and the lack of cooperation within and with the private sector on the other. Reportedly, Russian operators already have the equipment required to use the military frequencies across the country, but their deployment was delayed by the Defence Ministry which uses the frequency range for intra-agency communication and satellite data. "Should the military keep the range, 5G in Russia will never be a real 5G," one of the sources told Vedomosti.
9.1.9 Tourism sector news
The Russian Ministry of Economic Development has laid out a roadmap for developing a strategy for the tourism industry over the next six years, which proposes up to 100bn rubles ($1.53bn) in funding until 2024, a federal official told business newspaper Vedomosti. According to the official, these funds would come from already approved programs, as well as from additional sources. The contribution of tourism to the global gross domestic product (GDP) is 11%, whereas in Russia it is only 5% of GDP, the newspaper notes. According to Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin, tourism can be one of the fastest growing areas in the Russian economy. Together with regional leaders, the Minister has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to introduce an electronic visa mechanism in Moscow and St. Petersburg as a pilot, a federal official told Vedomosti. A representative of the Ministry of Economic Development confirmed the letter’s existence to the newspaper. According to the official, the head of state-supported this approach, but only if a specific implementation arrangement is worked out with the regions and security agencies. The goal is to launch the mechanism in 2020.
103 RUSSIA Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com